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A  SENATOR  OF 
THE  FIFTIES 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE 
FIFTIES 

DAVID   C.  BRODERICK 
o/CALIFORNIA 

^  By 

Jeremiah  Lynch 

Author  of 

"EGYPTIAN  SKETCHES" 

"THREE  YEARS  IN  THE  KLONDIKE" 

ETC 


San  Francisco 

S.  JW.  Eoberteon 

1911 


ET4-/ 


Copyright  1910 
By  JEREMIAH  LYNCH 


Printed  by 

The  Stanley-Taylor  Company 
San  Francisco 


TO 
EDWARD  ROBESON  TAYLOR 

THIS  BOOK  IS  INSCRIBED  AS 
A  MODEST  TRIBUTE  TO  FRIENDSHIP 


510293 


PREFACE 

The  destruction  of  San  Francisco  in  1906  occa 
sioned  the  loss  of  many  unique  and  interesting 
documents  relating  to  the  early  history  of  Cali 
fornia.  The  shock  of  the  fire  and  earthquake 
caused  the  rapid  extinction  of  several  pioneers  who 
helped  to  make  that  history.  Moreover,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  author,  a  number  of  existing  books 
describing  events  occurring  in  the  fifties  are  both 
incomplete  and  inaccurate. 

Therefore,  this  work  is  a  modest  effort  to  supply 
these  deficiencies  before  it  is  too  late.  Many  liv 
ing  witnesses  of  incidents  related  have  been  con 
sulted  and  all  available  sources  of  original  authori 
ties  diligently  investigated.  The  names  of  these 
persons  and  authorities  will  be  found  at  the  end 
of  the  volume. 

Surely  the  deeds  and  memories  of  the  men  who 
founded  the  State  of  California  should  be  preserved 
from  oblivion. 

JEREMIAH   LYNCH. 
San  Francisco,  December,  1910. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  EARLY  DAYS  1 

II.  NEW  YORK 29 

III.  1849    41 

IV.  PROGRESS    61 

V.  CONFLICT    81 

VI.     THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 96 

VII.     THE    COMMITTEE    OF    VIGILANCE — Con 
tinued    117 

VIII.  SENATOR  140 

IX.  WASHINGTON   158 

X.  DISSENSION     181 

XI.  PROVOCATION    199 

XII.  THE  DUEL  . .  213 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

DAVID  C.  BRODEBICK Title  Page 

MISSION  AT  PALA Page  2 

MISSION  DOLORES,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  1856 . .    "  14 

WILLIAM  M.   GWIN "  32 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  1849 "  48 

SACRAMENTO,  1849  "  50 

SHASTA  CITY,  1855 "  62 

EXECUTION  OF  CASEY  AND  CORA "  96 

FORT  VIGILANCE  "  112 

DAVID  S.  TERRY "  130 

E.  D.  BAKER "  142 

A  LETTER  BY  BRODERICK l '  178 

Los  ANGELES,  1857 "  190 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  1859 "  210 

HOUSE  IN  WHICH  BRODERICK  DIED.  ......    "  222 


A  SENATOR  OF 
THE  FIFTIES 


CHAPTER   I 

EARLY    DAYS 

California,  the  richest  district,  with  the  most 
salubrious  climate  in  the  New  World,  existed  quite 
unknown  until  the  last  few  decades. 

This  isolation  was  due  to  its  remote  location  by 
the  Pacific  Ocean  far  from  civilization.  The  con- 
quistadores  discovered  and  ravaged  the  western 
coast  of  the  southern  continent,  north  to  the  tropics 
—including  Central  America. 

They  had  followers,  but  no  successors.  With 
Cortez  and  Pizarro  died  the  resolute,  desperate 
courage  and  enterprise  that  made  the  Spaniards 
who  conquered  these  territories,  almost  Eomans. 
Napoleon  said,  "It  is  the  man,  not  the  men,  who 
wins." 

Unquestionably  the  sad  end  of  the  two  marshals 
of  the  new  empire,  Cortez  and  Pizarro — the  one 
received  by  his  haughty  sovereign  with  alternate 
ignominy  and  distinction;  the  other  assassinated 
by  his  comrades  to  whom  he  gave  wealth,  victory 
and  power — was  poor  recompense  for  adding  a  con 
tinent  to  the  Spanish  dominions. 

In  later  years  a  few  desultory  voyages  were  un 
dertaken  northerly  along  the  coast  and  several 

1 


A    SENATOR    OF   THE    FIFTIES 

military  detachments  were  sent  to  the  western  and 
northern  interior. 

But  no  glowing  legends  of  riches  rivalling  those 
of  Peru  or  of  Mexico  were  heard  and  transmitted 
by  these  explorers  on  sea  and  land.  A  vague 
rumor  of  ' '  Seven  golden  cities ' '  that  existed  or  had 
existed  sometime  in  these  vast  untrodden  regions 
in  the  dim  past,  floated  around  the  cloisters  of  the 
churches  and  in  the  barracks  of  the  soldiery,  and 
both  church  and  state  united  in  more  than  one  ef 
fort  to  discover  these  fabled  treasures  of  an  un 
known  race.  All  that  was  found  were  some  chaotic 
ruins  that  even  yet  exist  and  even  yet  are  largely 
unexplored.  The  heat,  difficulty  of  access,  and 
dense  vegetation  have  thus  far  saved  the  golden 
cities  of  Cibola  from  the  time-destroying  hands  of 
the  archeologist  and  antiquarian. 

The  ruins  existing  in  Lower  California,  distant 
from  the  ocean,  may  yet  yield  valuable  and  accu 
rate  data  respecting  the  earlier  centuries  of  human 
life  in  those  localities.  Moreover,  the  tale  told  to 
the  soldiers  of  these  expeditions  by  the  few  abo 
rigines  whom  they  met  was  not  hopeful  for  farther 
enterprise.  Here  were  immense  distances,  fearful 
hardships,  famine  and  thirst;  and,  at  the  end, 
shores  washed  by  a  foggy  sea  and  peopled  with  a 
few  naked  savages.  Hence  viceroys  and  bishops 
desisted,  and,  for  many  lustrums,  this  beautiful 
Arcadia  lay  like  a  nymph  of  the  forest,  waiting. 

2 


EARLY   DAYS 

Later  the  gentlemanly  buccaneer,  Drake,  drifted 
up  the  coast  while  hunting  Spanish  galleons,  laden 
with  treasure  from  Peru  en  route  to  the  Philip 
pines.  He  careened  his  ships  to  clean  and  repair 
at  a  point  some  few  miles  north  of  the  entrance 
to  the  bay  of  San  Francisco.  He  thus  passed  un 
knowingly  the  ingress  to  one  of  the  two  or  three 
perfect  havens  of  the  world.  The  waters  where  he 
disembarked  are  even  now  styled  Drake's  Bay.  He 
found  the  far  dwellers  of  this  remote  region  dirty 
and  affable.  They  lived  on  game  and  fish  and  were 
without  raiment,  although  the  climate  with  its 
misty  vapors  was  by  no  means  tropical.  Penetrat 
ing  only  a  short  distance  into  the  interior,  he  de 
parted  as  soon  as  his  vessels  were  repaired,  seeking 
Spanish  plunder  on  the  high  seas.  Doubtless  the 
published  history  of  his  voyage  was  soon  accessible 
to  the  foreign  conquerors  of  Peru  and  Mexico  and 
served  still  more  to  dissuade  them  from  uninviting 
sacrifices.  So  that  from  Drake,  1579,  to  Viscaino, 
1603,  the  charm  and  beauty  of  California  continued 
to  remain  secluded  and  unknown  to  an  inquiring, 
intelligent  world.  At  the  latter  date  the  Spanish 
navigator  directed  the  course  of  his  little  flotilla 
northerly  by  the  coast  and  discovered  two  principal 
ports — San  Diego  and  Monterey. 

Like  Drake,  he  returned,  bringing  back  a  meagre 
tale  of  unpopulated  lands,  bleak  shores  and  dirty, 
unenriched  aborigines.  Both  of  these  intrepid  and 

3 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

skilful  mariners,  Drake  and  Viscaino,  seemed  some 
what  apprehensive  of  danger,  fearful  of  leaving 
their  vessels  and  traveling  inland.  After  all,  they 
were  sailors,  not  soldiers.  Viscaino  continued  his 
voyage  even  as  far  north  as  what  is  now  British 
Columbia,  but  everywhere  encountered  the  same 
lifelessness  and  inhospitality. 

Again,  ages  passed  on;  generations  lived  and 
died.  The  Atlantic  Coast  from  extreme  north  to 
extreme  south ;  from  Labrador  to  the  Isthmus  and 
from  the  Isthmus  to  Patagonia,  was  mapped, 
plowed,  tilled,  cultivated ;  forests  felled ;  lands  peo 
pled  ;  ships  built ;  cities  constructed.  Withal,  this 
fairest  province  of  California,  lying  the  seas  across 
from  the  oldest  continent,  where  the  Occident  fully 
confronts  the  Orient  over  the  wide,  placid  waters 
of  the  deep,  remained  still  unknown,  sleeping  and 
waiting.  An  hundred  and  seventy  years  more 
were  marshalled  with  the  dead  lustrums  that  pre 
ceded  them.  Not  a  vessel  grazed  her  sands.  Not  a 
single  sailor  saw,  from  the  swelling  surge,  the  lofty 
mountain  range,  curbing  the  waters  and  bridling 
the  storms.  Not  a  single  soldier  or  adventurous 
frontiersman  trod  her  flowered  glades  or  lofty  sum 
mits  crested  with  snow.  In  her  beauty  and  lovely 
youth  she  remained  hidden  like  a  nymph  in  the 
garden  of  the  Hesperides,  until  the  coming  of  the 
padres.  A  strange  wooing  this,  of  the  dainty, 
lonely  maiden  springing  like  Aphrodite  from  the 

4 


EARLY   DAYS 

sea,  by  the  shriven,  tonsured,  leather-girdled,  ven 
erable  friars. 

The  Franciscans  were  the  Jesuits  of  the  New 
World,  for  the  latter  had  been  expelled.  Just  as 
devout,  self-sacrificing  and  persevering,  but  more 
humble  and  modest,  and  without  the  domineering 
demands  of  the  Jesuit  organization,  the  Franciscan 
friars  were  singularly  adapted  for  converting  and 
colonizing  the  equally  gentle  and  harmless  in 
digenous  population  of  California.  The  Franciscan, 
Junipero  Serra — a  native  of  Majorca,  but  who  had 
lived  his  life  in  Mexico — was  selected  by  his  order 
to  lead  the  ecclesiastical  members  of  the  expedi 
tion. 

The  Viceroy  of  Mexico  gave  them  a  guard  of 
fifty  soldiers.  It  was  also  provided  that  each  priest 
should  receive  four  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  sus 
tenance.  The  crown  and  the  cross  toiled  together 
under  the  flag  of  Spain.  The  single  vessel,  sailing 
from  San  Bias,  conveyed  two  hundred  cattle.  These 
animals  were  the  ancestors  of  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  that  a  few  years  later  wandered  from 
end  to  end  of  the  land;  for  in  California  was 
abundance  of  wild  game — deer,  elks,  bears,  ante 
lopes — but  neither  cattle  nor  horses.  Sierra  and  his 
company  landed  at  San  Diego  in  1769.  A  detach 
ment  was  sent  northerly  to  locate  the  port  of  Mon 
terey,  the  second  of  the  two  bays  discovered  and 
described  by  Viscaino  in  1603.  The  monks  and 

5 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

soldiers  marched  on  foot,  with  the  scant  supplies 
loaded  on  horses. 

In  some  mysterious  manner  they  passed  unseeing, 
Monterey  Bay.  To  find  water  and  grass  the  cav 
alcade  was  often  compelled  to  march  miles  from  the 
coast  with  perhaps  dry,  lofty  mountains  inter 
vening,  though,  of  course,  as  the  ocean  was  the 
guide,  they  feared  to  venture  too  far  from  its 
shores.  But  Portola,  the  commander  of  the  expe 
dition,  pressed  on  seventy  miles  farther  north  until, 
with  his  soldiers,  he  discovered  the  superb,  un 
rivalled  bay  and  harbor  of  San  Francisco.  On  the 
return  journey,  which  was  difficult  and  dangerous 
because  of  the  scarcity  of  supplies  and  the  appear 
ance  of  scurvy  among  the  party,  he  sent  his  report 
from  San  Bias  to  the  viceroy. 

Serra,  who  had  remained  at  San  Diego  during 
Portola 's  expedition,  at  once  commenced  the  erec 
tion  of  buildings  of  the  style  and  architecture  im 
proved  by  the  Moors  in  Northern  Africa,  taken  by 
the  Arabs  to  Spain  and  later,  with  slight  modifica 
tions,  transferred  to  the  New  World.  With  red 
roof  tiles,  mud,  and  rough,  sun-dried  bricks  were 
made  into  solid  structures  of  one  or  two  stories 
— admirable  dwellings  for  the  denizens  of  dry, 
hot  climates.  They  are  inexpensive,  and  easy 
to  repair,  and  if  one  of  the  mission  buildings 
be  only  partially  destroyed  it  is  so  facile  to 

6 


EARLY   DAYS 

construct  another.     Water,  earth,  and  sun  are  the 
only  factors. 

During  the  next  decade  the  Franciscans  built 
several  missions,  distributed  from  San  Diego  to 
Sonoma.  Each  mission  had  a  moderate  though  ade 
quate  guard  of  from  four  to  ten  soldiers.  The 
friars  were  architects  of  the  earthly,  as  well  as  of 
the  heavenly  paradise,  for,  though  Serra  himself, 
with  proper  ceremonies,  laid  the  foundation  stone 
of  every  mission,  yet  he  resided  mainly  in  San 
Diego  and  the  friars  allocated  each  mission  and 
aided  only  by  the  converted  Indians,  planned  and 
constructed  all  the  edifices.  It  was  not  all  food, 
peace  and  sunshine.  At  Paso  Robles  the  diet  for 
one  winter  was  acorns  with  green  herbs  for  a  flavor. 

The  packet  boat  that  left  San  Bias  annually,  with 
supplies  for  the  immigrants  missed  a  year  or  two. 
Monterey  Bay  had  not  yet  been  re-located.  It  was 
conjectured  that  sands  from  the  sea,  aided  by  earth 
quakes,  which  even  then  were  frequent,  unwelcome 
and  terrifying  visitors,  had  destroyed  its  existence, 
and  what  else  might  not  happen!  There  were  no 
cattle,  nor  horses  save  the  small  herds  transported 
thither  by  the  Spaniards  themselves.  They  did 
not  know  that  most  delicious  wine  could  be 
made  from  the  wild  grapes  abounding  in  the  au 
tumn  glens — that  the  dry,  hard  soil,  touched  by  the 
magic  of  water,  would  rival  a  world's  garden  and 
supply  a  world's  granaries — that  the  wild  and 

7 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

rugged  hills  with  their  steep  and  picturesque  cones, 
and  the  mountain  ranges,  crevassed  by  deep- 
shadowed  glades,  concealed  in  their  inmost  recesses 
the  golden  ransom  of  a  continent.  They  felt  them 
selves  exiles,  more  remote  than  Juvenal  on  the  dis 
tant  islet  of  the  Nile,  with  no  consolation  but  re 
ligion,  faith  and  philosophy. 

While  Serra  was  temporarily  absent  from  San 
Diego,  Indians  attacked  the  mission,  slew  several 
soldiers  and  churchmen  and  completely  destroyed 
the  partially  finished  structures.  Padre  Junipero, 
when  told  of  the  catastrophe,  exclaimed :  "At  last 
our  ground  is  watered  by  the  blood  of  martyrs. 
Now  we  can  go  on  and  build  and  rebuild,  for  the 
land  is  consecrated  to  God."  He  hastened  to  re 
turn  to  San  Diego,  but,  on  his  arrival,  was  informed 
to  his  chagrin,  that  the  viceroy  contemplated  aban 
doning  San  Bias  as  a  seaport  for  California  and  for 
ward  supplies  overland  through  Sonora  and  Lower 
California,  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles.  This 
insured  practical  isolation  and  destruction  of  the 
missions.  Serra,  who,  while  a  profound  churchman, 
was  also  a  man  of  energy,  resolute  and  undaunted, 
instantly  determined  that  the  high  purpose  "to 
whose  success  and  enduring  existence  he  had  con 
secrated  his  earthly  labors,"  should  not  be  igno- 
miniously  lost.  He  directly  started  on  foot  with 
only  one  Indian  companion  for  the  palace  of  the 
viceroy,  where  he  arrived  after  a  most  fatiguing 

8 


EARLY   DAYS 

and  hazardous  journey  of  four  months  over  arid 
deserts  and  through  unknown  passes  and  defiles 
in  the  gaunt,  barren  mountains,  without  pausing 
to  rest  a  single  day.  Fortunately,  for  such  endur 
ance  and  determination  deserves  better  than  fail 
ure,  the  vacillating  viceroy  had  been  succeeded  by 
another  of  different  mould. 

The  intellectual  friar  completely  captivated 
Bucareli  with  his  vivid  and  enthusiastic  description 
of  the  ample  plains,  equable  climate,  magnificent 
mountains  of  California,  and  the  incomparable  har 
bor  of  San  Francisco.  The  new  viceroy,  enchanted 
to  add  so  noble  a  domain  to  the  realms  of  Spain, 
directed  that  a  large  vessel  should  be  properly 
equipped  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Serra,  who 
loaded  it  at  San  Bias  with  necessaries  for  the  new 
colonies. 

The  viceroy  also  despatched  a  platoon  of  fifty 
soldiers  with  leather  cuirasses,  thus  distinguished 
from  the  lighter  armed  troops  of  the  Spanish 
army,  overland  to  San  Diego,  whence  they  were 
to  be  distributed  to  the  other  missions,  as  in 
structed.  The  old  friar  returned  resplendent  with 
joy  and  success  to  his  doubtful  and  despondent 
colleagues.  Such  was  the  energy  inspired  by  his 
presence,  both  in  converting  and  constructing,  that 
when  Father  Junipero  Serra  died  at  San  Carlos,  in 
1784,  only  fifteen  years  after  his  advent  to  Cali- 

9 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

fornia,  he  left  sixteen  missions  and  ten  thousand 
Indian  neophytes. 

These  Indians  had  hitherto  professed  no  really 
definite  religion.  Indubitably  they  were  as  bestial 
and  degraded  as  the  lowest  of  American  aborigines, 
morally,  mentally  and  religiously.  Other  tribes 
possessed  some  faith;  the  Calif ornian  Indians  had 
none.  Marriage  was  a  prostituted  rite.  At  San 
Francisco  the  monks  found  an  Indian  married  to 
three  sisters  and  their  mother.  The  natives  fished 
and  hunted,  but  planted  nothing ;  and,  even  on  the 
seashore,  where  there  are  cold,  foggy  days,  and 
many  of  them,  wandered  without  covering. 

They  roamed  over  the  immense  territory  in  sparse 
numbers,  killing  with  the  arrow,  elks,  bears,  deer, 
ducks  and  antelopes.  Their  existence  was  entirely 
nomadic,  except  on  the  seashore,  where  they  built 
huts  of  reeds  and  twigs,  adjacent  to  excellent  fish 
ing  stations.  They  had  no  history,  no  memories,  no 
known  antecedents.  Unwarlike,  unoffending,  docile 
and  mentally  inert,  they  became  laborers  and  Chris 
tians,  with  equal  readiness  and  alacrity.  Faithful 
to  the  padres,  they  were  warmly  attached  to  their 
local  missions  and  as  they  increased  in  numbers 
became  correspondingly  useful  and  serviceable. 

Intelligence  was  not  one  of  their  attributes  nor 
could  they  be  appreciably  educated.  But  as  horse 
men,  ground  tillers  and  keepers  of  the  great  herds 
of  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  that  gradually  accumu- 

10 


EARLY   DAYS 

lated  in  the  environs  of  the  numerous  missions,  they 
were  excellent  and  reliable. 

Serra  saw  his  work  well  commenced  before  he 
died.  He  would  never  take  medicine  and  even 
with  a  lame  leg  walked  hundreds  of  leagues.  When 
remonstrated  with  by  a  muleteer  on  his  carelessness, 
he  said :  * '  Well  then  give  me  the  same  remedy  that 
you  apply  to  the  sore  leg  of  a  mule,  for  I  am  no 
better."  He  preferred  sleeping  in  the  open,  es 
pecially  when  traveling,  and  used  to  say  that  it 
prolonged  his  life  a  dozen  years  to  thus  live.  He 
always  preserved  both  the  independence  and  suzer 
ainty  of  the  church  over  the  military,  and  consti 
tuted  himself  chief  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Cal 
ifornia,  a  privilege  that  was  sometimes  claimed, 
but  never  exercised  by  his  successors.  His  letters 
show  courage,  devotion  and  a  prescient  intelligence. 

He  said  that  "California  will  be  richer  and 
greater  than  Mexico"  and  evinced  no  desire  to 
depart  and  return  to  Spain  or  Mexico,  but  directed 
where  his  remains  should  lie ;  and  at  San  Carlos  he 
reposes  in  tranquillity,  undisturbed  by  the  sea  birds 
that  forever  sail  above  and  around  his  mauso 
leum — the  Founder  of  California. 

Like  some  dead  people's  fortunes  which  increase 
many  fold,  too  late  for  their  enjoyment,  the  missions, 
after  the  demise  of  Serra,  advanced  amazingly  in 
power,  wealth  and  produce. 

In  1824  the  numbers  of  cattle  and  other  farm 
11 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

animals  attached  to  the  twenty-three  missions  ex 
ceeded  a  million,  the  progeny  of  the  few  head  taken 
in  by  Serra  and  his  company  five  decades  before. 

The  native  wild  grape  had  been  pruned  and 
grafted  until  it  yielded  a  delicious  quality  of  red 
wine,  stronger  than  European  grades,  but  pleasant 
ly  savored. 

Many  kinds  of  grain  were  grown  on  the  ranches 
near  the  missions  and  fruit  of  every  description 
abounded.  Wild  flowers  covered  the  glens  and 
glades;  copses  of  fir  and  birch  clung  to  the  sides 
and  summits  of  the  towering  mountains;  game  in 
abundance  wandered  over  the  grassy  meadows,  and 
the  eternal  sunshine  of  California — gentler  and 
more  resplendent  than  that  of  either  Italy  or  Egypt 
— cheered  and  chastened  the  missionaries.  Leaving 
far  distant  Spain,  to  cast  their  lot  with  the  savages 
of  this  most  remote  and  unknown  quarter  of  the 
globe,  they  had  found  an  Arcadia  without  parallel. 

But  everything  good  and  well  becomes  bad  and 
ill:  nothing  remains  changeless,  and  this  era  was 
the  apogee  of  the  friars'  peace  and  tranquillity. 

A  few  years  previously,  Mexico  had  become  in 
dependent  of  Spain.  With  political  came  religious 
independence,  and  the  rulers  of  the  new  republic 
heard  with  envy  of  the  monks'  prosperity  in  Cal 
ifornia. 

Every  friar,  by  the  terms  of  the  compact  be 
tween  Bucareli  and  Serra,  should  have  received 

12 


EARLY   DAYS 

from  the  government  the  annual  stipend  of  four 
hundred  dollars;  but,  for  years,  nothing  had  been 
paid.  The  vessel,  sailing  every  twelve  months  from 
San  Bias  to  California,  was  laden  with  supplies 
ordered,  and  liquidated  on  arrival  by  the  church 
men.  Indeed  the  missionaries  could  well  do  so. 
From  the  sale  of  hides  alone  a  fund  of  a  quarter 
million  dollars  in  specie  had  been  accumulated, 
and  their  other  resources  have  been  indicated.  More 
over,  all  the  Franciscan  friars  in  California  were 
of  Spanish  birth  and  the  newly  enfranchised  Mex 
icans  did  not  wish  to  acknowledge  allegiance  to 
either  the  Spanish  throne  or  church.  So  up  from 
the  south  came  a  Mexican  governor,  who  constituted 
his  capital  at  Monterey.  While  in  apparent  accord 
with  the  Franciscans,  yet  he  granted  them  few 
privileges  and  treated  them  with  rigor.  They  in  a 
measure,  claimed  the  whole  country  by  right  of 
discovery  and  settlement;  but  the  church  in  every 
land  must,  like  everything  else,  lie  under  the  law, 
which  protects  both  those  who  believe  and  those 
who  doubt.  Hence,  the  governor  repudiated  this 
assumption  and  invited  settlers  from  Mexico  and 
other  countries,  making  large  grants  of  land  to  the 
most  potential  newcomers.  This  encouraged  immi 
gration,  and  the  immigrants  enticed  Indians  from 
the  missions  to  enter  their  own  service. 

The  governors,  for  one  succeeded  another  with 
almost  grotesque  rapidity,  were  only  consistent  in 

13 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

one  phase  officially,  and  that  was,  hostility  to  the 
friars  and  their  habitations.  In  1846,  when  the 
Americans  conquered  California,  the  missions  were 
even  then  decaying.  The  contrast  between  1824 
and  1846  was  pathetic,  but  otherwise,  the  Cali- 
fornians,  as  those  Spaniards  and  Mexicans  who 
dwelt  permanently  were  called,  continued  to  thrive 
and  prosper.  They  were  scattered  over  a  distance 
of  five  hundred  miles,  all  the  way  from  San  Diego 
to  Shasta,  and,  with  the  land,  animals  and  Indians 
filched  from  the  poor  padres,  lived  like  veritable 
hidalgos. 

Riding  like  centaurs,  on  horses  that  were  more 
enduring  than  the  purest  Arab,  they  would  sup  a 
hundred  miles  from  where  they  breakfasted  and 
never  leave  their  own  demesnes.  In  the  contest 
with  the  Americans  they  numbered  several  thou 
sand  fearless  horsemen,  and  conflicts  of  greater 
or  lesser  importance  were  fought  in  the  same  year, 
1846.  The  Californians  were  not  enamored  of  Mex 
ico  and  knew  they  were  too  weak  to  exist  as  an 
entity.  An  inchoate  prejudice  against  Mexico 
smouldered  at  the  period  of  the  American  irrup 
tion,  and  therefore,  after  the  taking  of  Los  Angeles 
by  the  enemy,  the  Californians  quietly  disbanded 
and  returned  to  the  enjoyment  of  life,  certain  that 
the  Americans  would  leave  their  lands  and  other 
property  untouched.  The  treaty  of  1847  between 
Mexico  and  the  United  States  ceded  California  to 

14 


EARLY   DAYS 

the  latter  and  it  became  henceforth  an  integral  por 
tion  of  our.  conn  try. 

Only  a  year  prior  to  the  gold  discovery,  while  the 
land  yet  nestled  in  the  lap  of  oblivion,  Colonel  Fre 
mont,  commander  of  volunteers  and  the  Jason  of 
California,  was  hastily  summoned  from  Los  Angeles 
to  Monterey.  Leaving  the  former  place  at  early 
dawn  with  two  companions,  he  rode  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  'before  halting  for  the  night. 
They  had  nine  horses  as  a  caballada,  driving  six 
ahead  of  them,  running  loose  on  the  trail,  and 
changing  every  twenty  miles.  The  second  day  they 
made  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles.  On  the 
third  they  did  not  start  until  eleven  o'clock,  yet 
travelled  seventy  miles,  and  on  the  fourth  day,  they 
dashed  into  Monterey  at  three  o'clock,  having  rid 
den  ninety  miles  since  morning,  and  four  hun 
dred  and  twenty  miles  in  four  days.  Fremont 
and  his  party  left  on  their  return,  the  next  day  at 
four  of  the  afternoon,  galloping  forty  miles  that 
afternoon,  a  hundred  and  twenty  next  day,  and  a 
hundred  and  thirty  on  the  two  succeeding  days, 
arriving  in  Los  Angeles  on  the  ninth  day  from 
their  departure. 

The  distance  going  and  coming  is  eight  hundred 
and  forty  miles  and  the  trail  for  the  entire  dis 
tance  led  over  steep  hills,  down  gloomy  defiles  and 
precipitous  declivities,  and  across  wild  unpeopled 
valleys,  where  only  the  sun  and  compass  guided 

15 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

them.  The  actual  hours  in  the  saddle  numbered 
seventy-six,  about  eleven  miles  an  hour. 

Fremont  rode  the  same  horse  forty  miles  on  the 
afternoon  he  left  Monterey  and  ninety  miles  more 
the  day  following,  thus  making  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  in  twenty-four  hours  on  one  steed. 

This  charger,  then  left  loose  without  a  master,  led 
the  cavalcade  thirty  miles  farther  that  afternoon 
until  they  came  to  his  pastures.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  this  one  relay  from  Monterey  the  men  rode 
the  same  nine  animals  going  and  returning.  The 
horses  were  unshod  and  carried  with  riders  the 
heavy  Mexican  saddles  and  bridles  then  univer 
sally  used.  The  whole  adventure  rivals  Alex 
ander's  pursuit  of  Darius  in  Bactria. 

No  Arabian  steeds  could  surpass  this  feat.  The 
California  horses  were  relatively  small,  but  with 
deep  withers  and  broad  flanks.  Except  in  weight 
and  color  they  very  much  resembled  the  Arabian 
stallions  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  Cairo.  They 
were  fed  very  little  grain,  but  the  rich  grasses  of 
the  valleys  near  the  shore  were  heavy  and  sus 
taining. 

The  legend  of  the  lands,  attractions  and  fertility, 
had  floated  meanwhile  across  the  continent  and 
men  with  and  without  families  were  traversing 
the  plains  from  the  western  border  states. 

In  1846  there  were  some  three  hundred  volun 
teers  in  the  American  ranks  at  Monterey,  most  of 

16 


EARLY   DAYS 

whom  had  quite  recently  arrived.  Of  course  the 
knowledge  that  California  was  under  the  American 
flag  served  still  more  to  accelerate  the  hegira  and 
during  1847  people  from  the  " States"  came  in 
moderate  numbers.  It  was  in  the  winter  of  this  same 
year  that  a  wagon  train  from  Missouri  was  caught 
in  a  driving  storm  near  a  small  frozen  lake  on  the 
summit  of  the  high  Sierras.  Half  of  the  number 
perished  and  some  of  those  who  survived  did  so  by 
becoming  cannibals.  This  is  well  established,  and 
be  it  remembered  that  the  tragedy  occurred  before 
the  gold  discovery.  The  sheet  of  water  was  named 
Donner  Lake  for  one  of  the  dead. 

A  thousand  volunteers  had  enlisted  for  the  war 
and  leaving  New  York  City  sailed  around  the 
Southern  continent  and  landed  in  San  Francisco 
in  March,  1847,  to  find  the  country  tranquil  and 
all  resistance  ended.  They  disbanded  and  dispersed 
over  the  interior,  a  number  remaining  in  San 
Francisco,  which  was  rapidly  superceding  Mon 
terey,  though  the  latter  yet  remained  the  capital. 
Fortunately  for  these  patriotic  Americans  the  dis 
covery  of  gold  a  few  months  later  furnished  them 
a  boundless  opportunity. 

Gold  was  found  by  accident  in  January,  1848, 
on  a  tributary  of  the  Sacramento  River,  a  few  miles 
from  Sutter's  Fort.  It  is  strange  that  the  intelli 
gence  of  this  marvellous  occurrence  should  have 
traveled  so  slowly,  even  in  California.  We  read 

17 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

in  the  journal  of  an  American  navy  chaplain 
at  Monterey,  as  late  as  May,  that  "our  town  was 
startled  out  of  its  quiet  dreams  today  by  the  an 
nouncement  that  gold  had  been  discovered  on  the 
American  Fork,"  and  later,  June  12th,  "A  strag 
gler  came  in  today  from  the  American  Fork  bring 
ing  a  piece  of  yellow  ore  weighing  an  ounce.  The 
young  dashed  the  dirt  from  their  eyes  and  the  old 
from  their  spectacles.  One  brought  a  spy-glass; 
another  an  iron  ladle;  some  wanted  to  melt  it; 
others  to  hammer  it,  and  a  few  were  satisfied  to 
smell  it. 

"All  were  full  of  tests  and  many  who  could  not 
be  gratified  in  making  their  experiments  declared 
it  a  humbug.  One  lady  sent  me  a  huge  gold  ring 
in  the  hope  of  reaching  the  truth  by  comparison; 
while  a  gentleman  placed  the  specimen  on  the  top 
of  his  gold-headed  cane  and  held  it  up,  challenging 
the  sharpest  eyes  to  detect  a  difference. 

"But  doubts  still  hovered  in  the  minds  of  the 
great  mass.  They  could  not  conceive  that  such  a 
treasure  could  have  lain  so  long  undiscovered.  The 
idea  seemed  to  convict  them  of  stupidity." 

No  wonder:  it  was  so  startling  and  stupendous. 
The  world  yet  trembles  under  the  new  system  of 
life  and  existence  then  created. 

But  a  month  later  he  writes  differently: 

"The  gold  fever  has  reached  every  servant  in 
Monterey:  none  are  to  be  trusted  in  their  engage- 

18 


EARLY   DAYS 

ment  beyond  a  week,  and  as  for  compulsion,  it  is 
like  driving  fish  into  a  net  with  the  ocean  before 
them.  General  Mason,  Lieutenant  Lanman  and  my 
self  form  a  mess ;  we  have  a  house  and  all  the  table 
furniture  and  culinary  apparatus  requisite,  but 
our  servants  have  run,  one  after  another,  till  we 
are  almost  in  despair ;  even  Sambo,  who  we  thought 
would  stick  by  from  laziness,  if  no  other  cause, 
ran  last  night,  and  this  morning  for  the  fortieth 
time  we  had  to  take  to  the  kitchen  and  cook  our 
own  breakfast. 

"  A  general  of  the  United  States  Army,  the  com 
mander  of  a  man-of-war  and  the  Alcalde  of  Mon 
terey,  in  a  smoking  kitchen,  grinding  coffee,  toast 
ing  herring  and  peeling  onions!" 

Three  days  later : 

"  Another  bag  of  gold  from  the  mines  and  an 
other  spasm  in  the  community.  It  was  brought 
down  by  a  sailor  from  Yuba  River  and  contains 
one  hundred  and  thirty-six  ounces.  It  is  the  most 
beautiful  gold  that  has  appeared  in  the  market. 
My  carpenters  at  work  on  the  school  house,  on  see 
ing  it,  threw  down  their  saws  and  planes,  shoul 
dered  their  picks  and  are  off  for  the  Yuba.  Three 
seamen  ran  from  the  Warren,  forfeiting  their  four 
years'  pay,  and  a  whole  platoon  of  soldiers  from  the 
fort  left  only  their  colors  behind. 

' '  One  old  woman  declared  she  would  never  again 
19 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

break  an  egg  or  kill  a  chicken  without  examining 
yolk  and  gizzard." 

So  even  in  California,  one  of  the  most  momen 
tous  events  in  the  history  of  mankind  was  at  first 
doubted,  discredited  and  deprecated.  Well  it 
might  be,  for  in  my  reading  I  cannot  recall  a  simi 
lar  occurrence.  Gold  washing,  it  is  true,  has 
always  been  practiced  and  the  metal  found  in  small 
quantities. 

The  Egyptians  excavated  trenches  for  gold  near 
the  Red  Sea,  the  remains  being  yet  visible,  and 
English  capital  is  today  exploiting  the  Pharaohonic 
mines.  But  these  were  government  properties 
working  convict  laborers  over  a  very  limited  area. 
Other  parts  of  the  world  had  also  yielded  gold, 
but  never  was  it  until  now  discovered  in  such 
masses  so  free  to  every  one  and  scattered  over  such 
a  diverse  territory.  We  must  remember  that  this 
was  before  Australia,  The  Klondike  and  South 
Africa. 

Our  minds  today  are  habituated  to  these  and 
many  other  marvelous  happenings  and  inventions 
of  which  our  forbears  never  knew  or  dreamt;  but 
the  finding  of  gold  in  California  in  1848  startled 
the  world  as  nothing  since  or  before  has  done.  Per 
haps  it  was  the  most  astounding  discovery  during 
the  Christian  era  and  certainly  it  is  only  today 
that  we  are  really  becoming  concerned  about  the 
recent  vast  increase  in  the  precious  metals. 

20 


EARLY  DAYS 

Nevertheless,  as  the  intelligence  percolated 
through  channels  and  arteries  of  communication 
to  distant  countries,  with  all  the  alluring  possi 
bilities  of  a  fortune  picked  from  fertile  earth,  peo 
ple  appeared  like  vultures  from  the  clear  sky. 
They  came  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  and 
around  the  Southern  continent  and  over  the  North 
ern  continent.  They  came  by  land  and  sea,  on  foot 
and  horse;  by  sail  and  steamer. 

From  east  and  west  and  south  the  lure  of  gold 
enticed  them  as  it  should,  for  with  gold  we  pur 
chase  everything  but  happiness,  and  that  belongs 
to  none.  There  were  more  Chinese  in  California  in 
1849  than  Europe  had  welcomed  in  a  thousand 
years. 

Flour  came  from  Chili  and  with  it  Chilians, 
Peruvians  and  throngs  of  Sonorians.  These  Latins 
dug  all  day  and  gambled  all  night.  Their  principal 
rivals  were  the  Chinese,  but  the  latter  did  not  ac 
quire  the  same  privileges.  It  is  related  that  a  small 
party  of  Americans,  traveling  to  the  goldfields,  en 
countered  a  number  of  returning  Sonorians. 
These  had  tied  rags  on  their  blistered  feet  and 
looked  forlorn  and  wretched,  driving  skeleton 
mules.  They  were  starving  and  begged  for  food. 
A  little  pork  and  biscuit  was  offered  by  the  incom 
ers  and  the  Sonorians  took  from  the  back  of  one  of 
the  mules  a  bag  of  gold  and  insisted  on  giving  a 
a  couple  of  pounds  in  exchange  for  the  meagre 

21 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

supply.  They  had  five  hundred  pounds  of  gold 
on  their  perishing  animals,  including  one  mass 
weighing  twenty-three  pounds,  yet  such  was  their 
improvidence  that  they  might  have  perished,  with 
only  the  metal  for  companionship. 

Two  men  who  gambled  away  at  night  the  gold 
they  dug  during  the  day,  desperate,  left  Tuolumne. 
Presently  they  descried  a  couple  of  returning  min 
ers  sleeping  under  a  tree.  Approaching  stealthily 
they  shot  the  sleepers,  looted  the  gold  and  fled 
south,  avoiding  Stockton  and  camping  in  the  hills. 

The  next  day  they  encountered  three  men  who 
had  just  deserted  from  a  United  States  vessel  of 
war  at  San  Francisco.  The  five  stayed  for  the 
night  with  an  English  settler  by  whom  they  were 
kindly  entertained  and  who  frankly  told  them  of 
his  success  at  the  mines. 

After  leaving  in  the  early  morning,  they  coun 
selled,  resolved  together,  and  hastily  retracing 
their  steps,  surprised,  killed  their  host,  and  then 
inhumanly  murdered  his  wife,  children,  and 
Indian  servants,  in  fact,  every  human  being  on  the 
ranch,  to  the  number  of  twelve.  Gathering  the 
gold,  they  fled,  but  faster  followed  the  avengers 
when  the  woeful  tragedy  was  known. 

Mounted  on  fleet  California  steeds,  the  pursuers 
overtook  the  fugitives  by  the  sea,  south  of  Santa  Bar 
bara.  One  of  the  outlaws  was  slain  and,  a  second, 

22 


EARLY  DAYS 

finding  escape  hopeless,  sprang  into  the  deep  waters 
that  received  him  in  an  everlasting  tomb.  The  re 
maining  three  surrendered  and  were  tried  at  once 
by  an  impromptu  jury  of  twelve  citizens  chosen 
from  the  victors.  The  gold  dust  was  easily  found 
among  their  slender  effects.  The  crime  was  proven 
and  admitted.  The  jury  promptly  sentenced  them 
to  death  and  before  sunset  the  three  assassins  were 
dangling  at  the  end  of  a  tree  branch  quietly  wav 
ing  over  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  far  below. 
This  I  believe  was  the  first  case  of  lynching  after 
the  American  control  and  it  occurred  in  1848. 

There  was  no  law  to  try  assassins,  no  courts  to 
condemn  them,  no  prisons  in  which  to  incarcerate 
them.  The  first  and  best  (because  just)  mandate 
is  to  preserve  society  by  punishing  criminals.  Life 
for  life  is  a  decree  that  will  never  be  forgotten, 
and  if  the  tribunals  do  not  enforce  it,  men  will. 
The  grave  is  the  only  prison  that  should  enclose  a 
murderer. 

Remote  as  was  the  goal,  half  of  a  long  year  from 
New  York  and  Europe,  except  via  Panama,  yet 
came  the  world,  ever  thronging  and  thronging.  The 
caravan  of  wagons  extended  over  the  valleys  and 
topped  the  mountains  from  Missouri  to  California. 

Ships  sailing  from  New  York,  sweeping  by  the 
misty,  rocky,  stormy  coasts  of  Terra  Del  Fuego, 
constituted  a  continuous  fleet.  The  early  establish 
ment  of  a  double  line  of  steamers  with  the  Isthmus 

23 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

as  a  bridge  made  transportation  rapid  and  con 
venient.  Each  person,  wagon,  animal  and  vessel 
was  laden  to  his  or  its  capacity.  There  were  no 
drones,  animate  or  inanimate.  Withal,  during  that 
extraordinary  year  1849,  though  forty-four  sea 
going  vessels  lay  empty  in  the  bay  of  San  Francisco, 
tides  swaying  their  silent  decks  with  the  coming 
and  going  of  the  moon — flour  in  the  gold  fields  sold 
at  two  dollars,  coffee  four  dollars  per  pound,  and 
eggs  at  one,  two  and  three  dollars  each.  On  those 
forty-four  vessels,  whose  crews  had  deserted — los 
ing  in  many  cases  a  year's  pay — only  the  watch 
men  remained,  for  even  the  captains  and  other 
officers  had  secretly  absconded.  What  wonder  when 
lucky  miners  uncovered  a  thousand  dollars  between 
sunrise  and  sunset — and  no  one  gained  less  than 
twenty  dollars  if  he  diligently  dug!  Twenty  dol 
lars  a  day  to  sailors  whose  wage  was  the  same 
sum  monthly!  In  the  calm,  warm  summer  and 
autumn,  the  miners,  though  not  entirely  acclimated, 
retained  good  health.  There  is  nothing  harmful 
in  sleeping  under  the  shadowing  limbs  of  a  lofty 
pine  covered  only  by  the  starlight. 

And  these  men  were  young.  The  average  of  the 
arrivals  in  that  sparkling  year  of  1849,  California's 
birthday,  did  not  exceed  twenty-five.  They  resem 
bled  the  soldiers  of  Napoleon  in  his  first  Italian 
campaigns.  They  had  come  far,  had  nothing  but 
24 


EARLY  DAYS 

youth  and  courage  and  therefore  ventured  much 
and  yet  little. 

The  incomprehensible  price  of  food  obtained  only 
at  the  mines,  several  hundred  miles  from  the  sea 
board.  All  supplies  were  transported  on  the  backs 
of  animals  and  men  over  a  dry,  dusty,  hot,  broad 
and  still  broader  plain,  and  then  up  sheer  acclivi 
ties  and  across  the  soaring  mountains. 

The  hopeful  horde,  laden  with  mining  and  cook 
ing  utensils,  swarmed  the  roads  leading  to  their 
paradise,  singing,  cheering,  jesting — the  happiest, 
heartiest,  merriest  crusaders  since  Kichard  of 
England.  It  was  not  hardship,  sleeping  under 
a  California  sky.  No  rain  in  the  summer 
months  made  the  days  pleasant,  though  dusty. 
Many  of  the  successful  gold  hunters  returned  to 
San  Francisco  after  a  fortunate  season  and  incred 
ible  stories  are  legendary  of  their  gambling  and 
revelries.  They  drank  like  Alexander's  officers, 
banqueted  like  Lucullus,  and  dissipated  like  Roman 
patricians. 

The  town  of  San  Francisco  embraced  only  two 
or  three  squares,  including  frame  dwellings  and 
tents.  To  complete  a  certain  structure  lumber  was 
bought  at  a  dollar  per  foot. 

After    the    edifice    was    occupied,    a    Methodist 

clergyman  was  granted  permission  to  hold  service. 

Though  gambling  tables,  at  which  the  games  never 

ceased,  encompassed  him,  he  was  listened  to  with 

25 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

respect  and  attention.  A  liberal  collection  was 
made  directly  and  handed  the  minister  by  an  old 
sailor,  with  the  comforting  observation :  ' '  Parson, 
that  was  a  damned  good  sermon!  "  While  so  dis 
tant  from  the  world  these  men  of  '48  and  '49  did 
not  repine.  It  was  before  the  era  of  murders  and 
vigilance  committees. 

Gold  was  abundant  and  all  were  young,  buoyant, 
and  hopeful.  There  existed  neither  police,  society, 
nor  clubs;  yet  good  order  was  maintained.  The 
alcalde  had  plenary  powers  which  he  exercised  with 
discretion.  The  newly-arrived  sometimes  fared 
hardly.  On  one  occasion  a  man  secreted  a  small 
quantity  of  gold  dust  under  the  sand  of  a  street. 
He  then  took  a  pan  and  began  " prospecting." 
Presently  he  very  naturally  came  to  his  deposit 
and  after  uncovering  the  sand  and  washing  it  in  the 
stream  hard  by,  lo !  there  was  the  gold.  A  number 
of  strangers  just  off  a  steamer  at  once  went  to  the 
nearest  shop,  bought  pans  and  patiently  worked 
all  day — without,  of  course,  finding  anything — only 
to  learn  in  the  evening  the  whole  ruse,  together 
with  the  fact  that  the  shopkeeper  had  sold  them 
all  his  tin  pans  at  about  ten  times  the  normal 
price — "a  Yankee  trick." 

The  necessity  of  an  orderly  American  administra 
tion  was  recognized.  California  was  a  territory 
governed  by  a  military  officer  appointed  by  the 
President.  But  his  authority  was  general  and  not 

26 


EARLY  DAYS 

local.  By  the  summer  of  1849,  myriads  peopled 
the  country,  extending  from  the  gold  fields  to  the 
seacoast.  Conventions  were  held  in  the  several 
localities,  delegates  elected  and  those  chosen  assem 
bled  in  Monterey,  where,  after  several  weeks  of 
discussion,  they  adopted  and  submitted  to  the  pop 
ulace  a  framed  constitution  for  the  embryo  State 
of  California.  Eight  of  the  forty-eight  delegates 
were  native  Californians  of  Spanish  descent — no 
inconsiderable  proportion — which  exhibits  very 
clearly  the  sincerity  and  cordiality  with  which  the 
old  aristocracy  fused  with  the  new  life  and  nation. 

The  constitution  expressly  prohibited  slavery  and 
one  of  the  forty-eight  delegates  was  William  M. 
Gwin.  A  month  later  the  people  sanctioned  its 
authority  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  and  on  the 
convening  of  the  first  California  legislature  at 
Monterey,  two  United  States  senators,  John  C.  Fre 
mont  and  William  M.  Gwin  were  elected.  Gwin 
came  to  California  from  Mississippi  in  1849.  Fre 
mont  had  led  the  American  volunteers  with  courage 
and  success  during  the  short  war  of  1846  between 
the  native  Californians  and  the  forces  of  the 
United  States.  By  chance  allotment  between  the 
two  men,  Fremont's  term  would  expire  in  1851 
and  Gwin's  in  March,  1855. 

Under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  they 
could  not  be  recognized  by  the  federal  Senate  until 
after  Congress  had  approved  the  constitution  of  the 

27 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

State  of  California  and  the  President  had  an 
nounced  by  proclamation  its  entrance  to  the  sister 
hood  of  states,  which  latter  final  preliminary  was 
promulgated  in  September,  1850,  when  California 
became  the  thirty-first  state  in  the  federal  union. 
One  of  the  local  Senators  from  San  Francisco  re 
signed  shortly  after  the  session  had  commenced.  An 
election  was  held  to  fill  the  vacancy  and  the  suc 
cessful  candidate  was  sworn  in  on  the  24th  of 
January,  1850.  His  name  was  David  Colbert 
Broderick. 


28 


CHAPTER  II 

NEW     YORK 

When  Broderick  was  fourteen  his  father  died. 
From  Washington,  D.  C.,  where  Broderick  was 
born,  the  family  had  removed  to  New  York  City. 

The  parent  was  a  stone  artisan  and  at  his  death 
the  fatherless  boy  found  but  little  saved  to  support 
his  mother  and  younger  brother.  He  began  the 
struggle  of  life  early,  very  early,  and  in  a  sombre 
way.  He  apprenticed  himself  as  a  stone  cutter — 
his  father's  calling — and  remained  with  his  em 
ployer  faithfully  during  the  five  years  of  his  in 
denture.  There  were  no  night  schools,  and  the  boy 
worked  all  day  and  every  day  plying  this  humble 
vocation,  with  the  winds  and  the  sunshine  as  daily 
companions.  He  grew  strong  and  reliant.  He  had 
few  boyhood  comrades  and  no  adventures.  In  fact 
he  seems  never  to  have  been  a  boy.  From  the 
beginning  he  was  brooding  and  thoughtful. 

Christopher  street  and  the  other  streets  near  by 
were  the  scenes  of  nightly  brawls,  quarrels  and 
rivalries  between  the  younger  men  who  lived  in  the 
locality.  Broderick  was  one  of  the  rudest,  rough 
est,  most  aggressive  and  truculent.  He  was  ever 
ready  for  a  fight  and  whether  he  whipped  or  was 

29 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

whipped  (and  both  occurred  many  times)  he  was 
willing  and  undaunted  for  the  next  fracas. 

After  he  became  United  States  senator  a  few 
of  his  early  conquerors  foregathered  near  the  favor 
ite  resorts  and  told  again  and  again  "how  they 
had  licked  Dave." 

The  fire  engines  of  New  York  were  handled 
by  volunteer  firemen  whose  principal  function  was 
not  alone  to  fight  fires,  but  everything  else,  espe 
cially  other  firemen.  To  the  chief  headship  of  one 
of  these  engine  companies  Broderick  fought  his 
way,  as,  in  somewhat  different  circumstances,  did 
Spartacus  of  old.  He  became  foreman  of  No.  34 
when  he  was  only  twenty. 

With  this  position  as  a  lever  he  entered  into  ward 
politics  and  soon  became  distinctive  as  one  who 
could  fight ;  gain  and  keep  friends  and  promises. 

Directly  he  was  of  age  he  was  appointed  to  a 
position  in  the  federal  service,  and,  as  has  been 
done  frequently  since  by  others,  perhaps  his  most 
onerous  duty  was  to  draw  the  salary.  He  cer 
tainly  found  leisure  to  keep  his  engine  and  com 
pany  the  most  complete  in  its  equipment  and  dis 
cipline  in  the  city;  to  attend  every  ward  meeting 
of  his  party,  where  frequently  there  were  blows 
as  well  as  words,  and  to  own  a  saloon. 

After  all,  no  one's  career  is  as  one  could  wish. 
We  have  all  done,  perforce,  things  we  would  not 
have  done  willingly.  It  is  only  a  question  of  men- 

30 


NEW  YORK 

tal  or  moral  vision  whether  one  trade  is  better  or 
worse  than  another.  Keeping  a  grog  shop  may  be 
a  misfortune,  but  it  cannot  be  a  crime.  Broderick 
kept  one  and  then  possessed  a  second,  finer  and 
larger  than  the  first.  Yet  he  never  drank  a  drop  of 
spirits  from  birth  to  death.  His  customers  were 
principally  firemen  and  local  politicians. 

His  mother  died  and  a  little  later  his  younger 
brother  was  accidentally  killed.  Broderick  was  left 
entirely  alone.  Years  afterward  in  the  Senate  he 
said  that  "he  did  not  know  a  single  human  being 
in  whom  flowed  a  drop  of  his  blood."  His  ances 
try  was  Irish  and  people  of  that  race  are  usually 
prolific,  but  the  man  seemed  doomed  to  be  alone — 
lonely  through  life. 

Gradually  his  thorough  application  to  whatever 
he  essayed  won  him  friends,  adherents  and  stand 
ing.  He  became  the  representative  for  Tammany 
from  his  ward;  was  given  consideration  by  his 
political  superiors;  and,  when  only  twenty-six 
years  old,  one  year  above  the  constitutional 
requirement,  was  made  the  regular  nominee  of  his 
party — the  Democratic — for  Congress.  But  Brod 
erick  had  the  faculty  of  making  more  bitter, 
rancorous  and  vindictive  enemies  than  most  men 
that  one  reads  of  in  modern  political  life.  He 
was  stubborn,  positive,  unrelenting,  and  unfor 
giving.  While  not  quick  with  his  brain  and 
tongue,  he  spoke  indeed  rather  distinctly  and  de- 
31 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

liberately,  yet  his  manner  was  repellant  to  those 
he  did  not  like  and  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  be 
diplomatic. 

These  personal  characteristics  so  well  recognized 
in  his  later  California  career  were  part  of  his 
gloomy  being  and,  even  in  New  York  at  this  early 
stage,  made  him  friends  who  would  die  for  him  and 
enemies  who  would  make  him  die  if  possible. 

Broderick  was  the  regular  nominee  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  which  was  largely  superior  in  num 
bers  to  the  Whigs  in  the  district;  but  an  aristo 
cratic  Democrat  ran  as  a  third  candidate,  thus 
dividing  the  Democratic  vote  and  electing  the  Whig. 

At  that  era  a  revolt  from  the  party  organization 
was  rare ;  people  were  not  so  reliant  and  free  from 
party  servility  as  today;  the  fetich  of  a  name  was 
worshipped  and  so  the  gravity  of  this  defection 
from  Broderick  was  pronounced.  Perhaps  an  anec 
dote  will  index  his  character  and  why  he  pos 
sessed  such  ruthless  adversaries.  President  Tyler 
had  received  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit 
New  York  City.  A  committee  of  city  officials,  ac 
companied  by  eminent  foreign  guests,  embarked  on 
a  steamer  to  meet  the  President  on  the  New  Jersey 
shore.  Although  elected  a  Whig,  Tyler  was  co 
quetting  with  the  Democrats,  and  so,  Tammany 
Hall  also  selected  a  committee,  or  rather  two  com 
mittees,  to  tender  homage  to  the  President. 

32 


NEW  YORK 

One  committee  represented  the  ultra  aristocratic 
element — for  Tammany  was  then  respectable — 
and  the  other  was  also  a  Tammany  selection, 
being  made  up  of  young  men  as  distinct  from  the 
old  men — in  other  words,  the  classes  against  the 
masses.  Broderick  was  of  this  second  committee, 
which  was  expected  to  gaze,  be  humble  and  silent. 
However,  the  forty  sachems — twenty  and  twenty — 
after  disembarking  from  their  steamer,  walked  to 
the  President's  residence  and,  while  the  mighty 
rich  were  awaiting  on  the  lawn  the  President's 
appearance,  Broderick  strode  to  the  door  alone, 
opened,  entered  and  presently  returned  with  the 
President  of  the  United  States  on  his  arm.  Con 
ducting  Tyler  to  the  astounded  group  he  saluted  the 
President  and  then  said  in  the  same  loud,  clear  tones 
as  when  directing  his  fire  laddies  at  a  conflagration : 
"Now  men  form  a  round  circle  and  the  President 
will  talk  to  you. ' '  For  a  moment  no  one  moved,  so 
completely  aghast  were  they,  until  one  of  the  im- 
maculates  said,  like  a  philosopher :  ' '  Come,  gentle 
men,  give  attention  to  the  President,"  and  Tyler 
delivered  a  short  address.  But  even  then  Broderick 
was  not  done.  After  the  President  ceased  he  very 
naturally  turned  to  Broderick  as  the  leader,  and 
the  latter,  quietly  taking  the  President's  arm  with 
an  injunction  to  all  Knickerbockers  and  firemen  to 
* '  form  the  line  of  march, ' '  led  the  way  to  the  land 
ing,  whence  the  tardy  boat  containing  the  real  city 

33 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

committee,  with  its  music  and  platoons  of  uniforms, 
had  just  arrived. 

Broderick  was  hardly  persuaded  to  surrender 
his  prisoner  to  the  other  committee,  as  he  hoped  to 
take  him  in  the  Tammany  boat  to  New  York.  He 
had,  however,  the  grim  satisfaction  of  balking  his 
aristocratic  enemies.  Not  bad  for  a  young  man  of 
twenty-five !  But  it  cost  him  a  seat  in  Congress. 

Writing  of  these  days,  Gen.  Daniel  E.  Sickles 
says:  " Though  I  was  a  member  of  the  opposite 
party,  I  was  so  impressed  with  Broderick 's  strong 
personality  and  with  his  prospect  of  splendid  use 
fulness  should  he  be  sent  to  Congress,  that  I  worked 
and  voted  for  him.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
election  was  over  that  he  knew  of  my  efforts  in  his 
behalf.  When  he  did  find  it  out  he  came  to  me  and 
thanked  me  for  my  support  and  pledged  me  his  aid 
if  I  should  ever  need  his  services.  He  renewed 
this  pledge  just  before  his  departure  for  California. 
I  remember  that  in  his  gallant  way  he  said  to  me : 
'  If  you  ever  need  me  I  will  be  your  slave. ''  In  bid 
ding  me  good-bye  he  told  me  that  if  he  ever  re 
turned  to  the  East  he  would  return  as  a  United 
States  senator  from  the  new  and  untrammelled 
state  of  California.  This  he  did." 

Let  \t  be  remembered  that  when  Broderick  ex 
pressed  this  resolve  there  was  no  state  of  Califor 
nia,  nor  did  it  exist  until  nearly  two  years  later. 
34 


NEW  YORK 

Evidently  he  had  faith  and  confidence  in  the  future. 
No  one  succeeds  who  does  not  fight  to  win. 

After  his  defeat  for  Congress  he  continued  his 
previous  vocations. 

At  the  next  state  election  the  Democrats  were 
beaten,  which  made  his  chance  of  success  dubious, 
even  if  nominated  a  second  time. 

Then  came  tidings  from  far-away  California. 
Stevenson's  battalion  of  New  York  volunteers,  who 
arrived  in  the  enchanted  land  before  the  gold  find, 
sent  alluring  letters  to  their  friends.  Colonel  Ste 
venson,  well  known  to  Broderick,  had  written: 
''Come,  leave  there,  and  try  this  new  land,  this 
El  Dorado." 

Around  him  were  friends  and  acquaintances  dis 
posing,  like  Alexander,  of  all  their  effects  and 
thronging  every  steamer.  "What  was  he  to  do  ?  His 
political  future  looked  blank.  The  life  he  lived 
and  his  daily  associations  were  repugnant.  He 
longed  for  a  broader  scope  and  a  higher  terrace 
on  which  to  crown  a  career.  Above  all  the  lure  of 
a  United  States  senatorship  fevered  his  brain  and 
made  more  intense  his  restless,  ambitious  disposi 
tion. 

These  were  the  days  of  the  great  triumvirate — 
Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun.  It  was  worth  while  to 
sit  among  those  men  and  be  one  of  them.  They 
were  free  as  the  eagle,  unbound,  unbought,  belong 
ing  to  nobody  but  themselves,  yet  forced  to  exercise 

35 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

the  best  powers  of  mind  and  intellect  to  be  noticed 
and  commended  among  their  colleagues  in  that  ex 
alted  station. 

Broderick  never  sought  money.     His  character 
istics  were  essentially  governing  and  not  commer 
cial.    Success  in  one  is  difficult;  in  both  still  more. 
He  chose  the  first.    Therefore  his  present  existence 
was  doubly  distasteful. 

Yet  it  is  not  so  very  tranquillizing  to  desert  the 
old  life,  home  and  associates,  perhaps  forever,  and 
to  seek  a  new  land,  new  life.  Hesitancy  was  one 
of  his  missing  qualities.  He  lingered  and  lingered 
despite  his  characteristic  determination,  which  or 
dinarily  made  it  easy  for  him  to  resolve  and  exe 
cute.  At  length,  one  morning,  he  broached  all  his 
casks  in  the  street,  saying  that  he  never  would 
"sell,  nor  drink  liquor,  smoke  a  cigar,  or  play 
a  card. ' '  That  vow  he  kept  in  all  the  dissipations, 
allurements  and  excitements  that  environed  his 
California  existence. 

He  left  New  York  on  a  steamer  and  debarked 
at  Chagres.  There  was  no  railway  in  1849,  and 
travelers  went  up  the  Chagres  River  by  boat  and 
thence  by  land  to  Panama.  It  was  a  wet,  dirty, 
hot,  unhealthy  journey  and  the  miseries  of  the 
crossing  have  never  been  adequately  portrayed. 

At  the  very  outset,  the  town  of  Chagres  itself 
was  a  dreadful  place.     On  the  thresholds  of  the 
doors  and  in  the  huts  were  thrown  hides,  bullocks' 
36 


NEW  YORK 

heads,  fish,  cattle  and  other  animals  putrefying  in 
the  damp,  tropical  atmosphere.  Part  of  this  was 
food. 

No  one  remained  in  Chagres  more  than  one  night, 
but  at  the  risk  of  a  malignant  fever.  The  next  day 
and  the  next  and  again  a  third  were  spent  poling 
up  the  small,  narrow,  tortuous  stream,  tormented 
by  gnats  and  mosquitoes.  On  shore  the  ants  came 
for  their  loot. 

Cholera  and  yellow  fever  were  epidemic  on  the 
Isthmus,  especially  in  the  rainy  months.  It  is  on 
record  that  of  twelve  gold-seekers  arriving  at 
Chagres  from  an  English  port  but  one  appeared 
at  Panama  a  week  later.  The  eleven  others  died 
en  route  of  yellow  fever.  Fifty  thousand  adven 
turous  young  men  invaded  California  that  year  and 
a  moiety  toiled  through  the  dark,  fever-dripping 
forests  and  up  the  miasmatic  stream.  One  hun 
dred  and  fifty  years  previous,  Morgan  and  his 
buccaneers  made  the  same  desperate  struggle  and 
for  the  same  guerdon — gold. 

We  have  not  nor  we  will  not  change.  Yet  these 
death-clinging  paths  lay  through  a  thick  jungle  of 
palms,  teaks  and  every  variety  of  rich  fern.  After 
rain  storms  the  refreshed  air  would  be  mellow  with 
a  sweet  fragrance  distilled  from  the  thirsty 
epiphytes.  Fortunately  Panama  was  relatively 
healthy,  and  no  one  stayed  or  rested  between 
Chagres  and  Panama  except  those  who  still  rest  on. 
37 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Ships  clustered  at  Chagres  from  many  different 
world  lanes — Britain,  France,  Italy,  New  York, 
New  Orleans,  Havana  and  other  places,  but  on  the 
Pacific  shores  Panama  was  the  only  point  connected 
by  steamers  with  the  Mecca — San  Francisco. 
Hence  Panama  was  always  thronged  and  crowded 
and  vessels  at  this  early  period  were  far  more  nu 
merous  on  the  Pacific  than  on  the  Atlantic. 

These  were  pleasant  days  for  the  old  Spanish 
town  and  wanderers  have  complacently  discoursed 
of  the  monkeys,  bananas,  cock-fights  and  bull-fights ; 
of  the  old  cracking  walls  with  the  older  brass  can 
non  that  had  not  been  discharged  within  the  mem 
ory  of  any  living  man;  of  the  quaint  church  and 
quainter  houses,  and  of  narrow  sun-shaded  avenues 
where  the  mandolin  and  guitar  accompanied  the 
sloe-eyed  senoritas  warbling  ' '  La  Golondrina. ' '  But 
none  of  these  terrors  or  pleasures  seem  to  have 
disturbed  or  interested  the  moody,  firm-faced  young 
man  from  New  York,  who  crossed  the  deadly  Isth 
mus  unscathed,  speedily  leaving  Panama  and  com 
ing  up  the  Coast  without  mishap. 

On  a  fair  June  eve  in  1849  the  Stella,  round 
ing  the  southerly  rocky  point,  with  the  northerly 
bluffs  extending  far  to  the  westward,  passed 
through  the  Golden  Gate,  encompassed  by  treeless, 
grassless,  verdureless  hills  and,  sweeping  from  east 
to  south,  ceased  from  her  long  voyage  in  the  placid 
depths  of  San  Francisco  harbor. 

38 


NEW  YORK 

On  the  far  eastern  horizon  a  range  of  mountains, 
separated  from  the  waters  by  a  wide  and  charming 
valley,  extended  for  miles  north  and  south.  The 
bay  itself,  one  of  the  three  safest  and  most  commo 
dious  havens  in  the  world,  stretched  for  leagues 
and  leagues  to  the  east,  north  and  south  and  from 
the  west  the  setting  sun's  rays  glided  through  the 
straight  and  narrow  entrance,  illuminating  with 
mellow  radiance  this  portal  of  the  Land  of  Gold. 
Of  the  multitudes  who  thronged  the  muddy  shores, 
restlessly  awaiting  the  arrival,  with  its  messages  of 
loves  and  tears  from  distant  kindred  and  friends, 
coming  o'er  the  world's  wide  compass,  were  some 
who  in  later  years  gathered  sweet  and  bitter  leaves 
from  life's  tree.  But  of  all  these  adventurous  Ar 
gonauts  there  was  none  whose  future  existence  and 
death  was  destined  to  be  more  weird,  tragical  and 
picturesque  than  that  of  this  newcomer,  who  with 
sedate  visage  looked  steadfastly  upon  the  panorama 
that  stretched  before  him  in  the  place  whither  he 
had  come  to  win  and  to  die. 

He  was  twenty-nine  years  old,  of  good  height  and 
weight,  with  superb  physique  and  strength.  Few 
men  could  cope  with  him  in  wrestling  and  he  was 
an  excellent  boxer.  His  ruddy  brown  beard  covered 
his  face,  and  his  hair,  slightly  dark,  was  plentiful. 
It  was  not  then  the  custom  to  wear  a  moustache. 
Indeed  the  Southern  statesmen  followed  Clay  and 
Jackson's  example,  who,  like  the  Romans,  went 

39 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

with  shaven  faces ;  but  the  Northerners  wore  beards. 
Even  then,  and  in  remote  California,  the  differences 
and  prejudices  between  the  two  sections,  culminating 
a  decade  afterwards  in  the  Civil  War,  were  clearly 
visible  in  their  personal  appearance. 

Broderick's  large  mouth  was  filled  with  strong, 
white  teeth,  but  his  heavy  upper  lip  was  unpleas 
ant,  and  his  sombre  countenance  not  cheerful.  He 
looked  like  one  always  thinking;  one  of  those  men 
whom  Caesar  would  have  disliked.  His  steel-blue 
eyes  met  one,  not  glitteringly,  but  with  a  depth  and 
steadfastness  that  strongly  impressed. 

One  can  not  look  at  his  face  and  call  it  attractive, 
but  it  is  the  face  of  a  man  who  thinks,  resolves  and 
acts  without  taking  counsel.  One  can  understand 
that  it  was  difficult  to  disagree  with  him  in  con 
versation,  he  was  so  positive,  not  to  say  dogmatic 
or  domineering.  Like  Henry  II,  he  seldom  smiled 
and  witticisms  were  foreign  to  his  nature.  He  had 
come  resolved  to  sacrifice  all  milder  pleasures  and 
endearments  on  Ambition's  altar.  He  won,  but 
the  price  was  death. 


40 


CHAPTER  III 

1849 

In  the  good  year  1849  the  boundaries  of  Cali 
fornia  were  not  adjusted,  nor  its  exact  extent 
known.  Today  with  seven  hundred  miles  of  coast 
line  backed  by  over  seventy  leagues  of  valley,  plain, 
and  mountain,  it  yields  only  to  Texas  in  area,  of  all 
the  fifty  commonwealths  embraced  in  the  nation. 

The  most  northerly  of  the  twenty-three  missions 
built  by  the  padres  were  on  the  upper  borders  of 
San  Francisco  Bay.  These  were  also  the  last.  They 
were  gradually  constructed  from  south  to  north, 
each  mission  being  about  a  good  day's  canter  from 
another;  but  after  the  last  one  at  Sonoma  was 
founded  came  the  Mexican  governors,  then  the 
gringos,  then  chaos. 

A  confirmation  is  afforded  by  observing  the  lo 
cal  nomenclature.  South  of  Sonoma  are  sweet 
sounding,  sibilant,  Spanish  accents.  But  north  of 
Sonoma  come  the  harsh,  unyielding  American 
words,  reeking  with  consonants  instead  of  vowels. 

The  old  friars  named  every  place  of  importance 
within  their  demesnes  and  I  am  glad  that  these  soft 
Castillian  phrases  have  been  retained  by  the  Amer 
icans  who  succeeded  to  the  lands  and  fruits 
thereof. 

41 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

California  was  claimed  by  the  early  native  Cali- 
f ornians  to  extend  northerly  for  many  leagues 
beyond  Sonoma  but  the  location  of  the  line  was 
unknown,  it  never  having  been  surveyed  by  their 
officials. 

Sutter's  Fort  on  the  Sacramento  River,  thirty 
leagues  northeast  of  San  Francisco,  was  built,  for 
tified,  and  held  by  Captain  Sutter,  a  Swiss,  who  ac 
knowledged  none,  or  a  very  slight,  allegiance  to  the 
Mexican  authorities.  He  was  not  disturbed  nor 
molested  by  the  Californians.  Indeed,  there  was 
never  a  platoon  of  soldiers  or  a  mission  within 
many  miles  of  Sutter's  establishment.  It  is  to 
be  recorded  that  the  gold  invaders  stripped  him 
of  his  wealth  in  cattle  and  lands,  slaughtering  the 
one  for  food  and  squatting  on  the  other,  until  the 
broad  and  fertile  valleys  were  involved  in  endless 
litigation.  It  would  have  fared  ill  with  many  of 
the  Americans  had  there  been  no  Sutter  to  welcome 
and  nourish  them  from  his  abundant  stores,  when 
their  weary  caravans  came  to  his  hospitable  por 
tals,  after  months  of  travel  over  arid  and  barren 
plains,  snow  and  ice-capped  mountain  ranges  be 
set  by  Indians,  disease  and  famine.  It  was  just, 
it  was  Christian  to  give  succor,  but  it  was  often 
repaid  only  by  ingratitude.  Before  the  advent  of 
the  Americans  he  was  lord  of  thousands  of  fruit 
ful  acres;  owner  of  myriads  of  fat  cattle;  sheep, 
mules  and  horses,  with  scores  of  Indian  subjects, 
42 


1849 

who  willingly  did  his  behests.  The  Calif ornians 
feared  and  respected  his  tact,  power  and  sterling 
good  judgment.  He  was  superior  to  all,  and  could 
look  confidently  forward  to  establishing  a  little 
principality  of  his  own.  Through  the  irony  of 
fate,  gold  was  first  exposed  on  his  property  by 
one  of  his  employees  who  promptly  imparted  the 
potent  intelligence  to  General  Sutter.  The  latter 
eagerly  gave  the  tidings  to  the  world.  In  a  very  few 
years  he  was  stripped  of  nearly  all  his  possessions 
and  died  in  Washington  at  the  close  of  his  cheq 
uered  career,  vainly  beseeching  Congress  for  some 
restitution  of  the  princely  fortune,  filched  from 
him  by  the  Americans. 

His  fate  was  somewhat  akin  to  the  fates  of 
Columbus  and  Balboa.  They  all  won,  and  the 
victory  was  the  cause  of  their  later  utter  desola 
tion. 

The  hordes  that  devoured  Sutter 's  substance, 
were  only  a  fragment  of  the  mighty  mass  of  men, 
rushing  to  the  lure  of  gold  and  which  reached 
its  apogee  in  1849.  In  that  year  the  immigration 
exceeded  any  other  twelve  months  preceding  or 
subsequent  thereto.  The  adventurers  embraced 
several  thousand  Orientals,  who,  even  at  that  early 
day,  came  across  the  wide  ocean  seeking  fortune 
on  a  foreign  shore.  All  landed  at  San  Francisco 
and  journeyed  thence  to  the  mines  which  were  on 
the  westerly  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains 

43 


A   SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

and  foothills.  The  auriferous  area  was  gradually 
increased  by  discoveries,  but  it  was  not  until  years 
later  that  the  vast  extent  was  known  and  explored. 

Shasta  and  Los  Angeles  were  both  obscure.  The 
latter  was  a  dusty,  dirty,  miserable  little  hamlet, 
where  existed  a  few  Californians  and  Indians,  liv 
ing  in  one-room  adobe  huts.  The  wealth  of  fruit 
and  wine  that  now  makes  it  the  paradise  of  the 
West  was  undreampt  of  in  that  era  and  none 
could  divine  its  bright  destiny.  Between  Los  An 
geles  and  San  Diego  lay  forty  leagues  of  barren 
mesa  lands,  over  which  wandered  cattle  and  a  few 
natives.  No  other  place  deserving  a  name  except 
the  missions  could  be  located  within  a  hundred 
miles  of  Los  Angeles.  The  San  Joaquin  Valley 
was  frequented  only  by  game  and  cattle,  roaming 
freely  without  restraint,  each  careless  of  the  other 's 
presence;  and  the  oblong  periphery  of  San  Fran 
cisco  Bay  was  void  of  inhabitants  save  in  "the 
City,"  Benicia,  and  the  missions. 

Hence  the  relation  between  the  town  and  the 
mines  was  close  and  binding  for  there  was  noth 
ing  else.  No  agriculture  of  any  kind ;  nothing  was 
raised.  Everything  was  brought  to  the  city  by 
water  and  thence  to  the  mines  in  one  way  or  every 
way  thinkable. 

The  glut  of  merchandise,  imported  in  the  scores 
of  vessels,  occasioned  curious  incidents  at  times.  It 
is  related  that  during  the  winter  of  '49  which  was 

44 


1849 

very  rainy,  boxes  of  tobacco  unopened  were  thrown 
into  the  crossings  over  some  of  the  streets.  To 
bacco  was  so  plentiful  and  unsalable  that  it  was 
actually  cheaper  to  make  of  the  boxes  a  foot  way 
than  to  construct  a  bridge  of  lumber.  Mules  are 
said  to  have  been  lost  in  the  mud  and  an  old  cari 
cature  of  that  eventful  period  represents  men  walk 
ing  or  wading  in  thoroughfares  up  to  their  waists 
in  mud  while  others  are  being  pulled  out  by  friends 
as  if  from  a  quicksand.  The  habitations  were 
tents,  and  wooden  houses  with  cloth  linings,  ranged 
close  together  on  both  sides  of  narrow  streets. 
Therefore,  when  a  fire  occurred  it  did  good  busi 
ness,  as  there  were  ample  materials  for  an  exhibi 
tion.  Four  fires  occurred  in  nine  months  each  tak 
ing  a  little  of  what  was  left  by  the  preceding  one, 
so  that  it  was  said  after  the  last  that  the  next 
conflagration  would  have  to  begin  all  over  again,  as 
of  the  earliest  structures,  there  was  not  one  left. 
The  people  literally  lived  in  the  streets,  there 
being  very  few  dwellings,  but  plenty  of  hotels  and 
boarding-houses,  and  shops  with  lofts  where  the 
owners  slept.  There  were  no  theatres,  but  many 
drinking  and  gambling  resorts  which,  brightly 
lighted  and  thronged  with  the  world 's  tribute,  were 
attractive  and  inviting.  Orientals,  the  most  im 
passive  and  consistent  gamblers  on  the  globe, 
chanced  their  ounces  at  the  tables  side  by  side 
with  Occidentals,  and  lost  or  won  with  a  fatalist's 

phlegm. 

45 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

All  night  long,  the  restless  mass  came  and  went, 
drinking  and  gaming.  The  medium  of  exchange 
was  gold  dust  carried  in  a  deer  skin  bag,  from 
which  the  varying  quantities  would  be  weighed  on 
a  pair  of  gold  scales,  with  which  every  business 
establishment  was  provided. 

But  very  few  women  or  families  had  come  into 
the  land  and  the  men  were  young,  fine,  healthy, 
hopeful,  sunny  beings — the  salt  of  the  earth.  Every 
one  carried  a  revolver  attached,  on  the  right  side, 
to  a  leather  belt,  buckled  around  the  waist,  and 
the  convenience  of  the  weapon  encouraged  and 
incited  affrays.  Men  cannot  shoot  if  they  leave 
their  weapons  at  home.  All  this  has  been  since 
repeated  in  other  gold  countries.  Australia,  South 
Africa,  the  Klondike;  and  the  scenes  just  limned 
have  subsequently  had  their  prototypes  more  than 
once  or  twice;  but  the  first  experiences  of  this 
nomadic,  restless,  wandering,  intense,  and  novel 
existence  were  in  California.  Besides,  assaults  and 
crimes  were  committed  in  San  Francisco  and  in 
the  interior,  that  did  not  occur,  or,  at  least,  oc 
curred  in  a  very  much  lesser  degree,  in  the  British 
possessions.  British  justice  may  not  appear  on  the 
law  books  as  superior  to  our  own,  but  as  it  is  regu 
lated  and  applied  by  British  judges,  it  protects 
life  and  punishes  criminals.  Here  we  protect  crim 
inals  and  punish  life.  If  we  had  fewer  lawyers  and 
less  law  it  would  be  a  relief  and  an  advancement. 
46 


1849 

The  medley  aggregation  congregated  in  the  town 
and  country,  embraced  some  eccentrics.  It  would 
be  odd  if  so  many  nations  could  not  supply  dif 
ferent  varieties  of  human  nature  to  laugh  or  weep. 

A  man  who  had  accumulated  many  pounds  of 
gold  enjoyed  his  wealth  in  a  novel  manner.  He 
would  spread  sheets  on  the  floor,  pour  the  metal 
on  them;  walk  upon  it;  roll  in  it;  cast  it  around 
the  apartment  in  handfuls  and  let  the  golden 
stream  descend  over  his  head  and  body  like  Jupi 
ter  upon  Danae. 

A  New  Yorker,  just  disembarked  from  a  Panama 
steamer,  carried  in  his  hand  a  bunch  of  six  pine 
apples.  He  was  presently  accosted  by  a  man  who 
said  abruptly,  pointing  to  the  fruit:  "Do  you 
want  to  sell  them?" 

"Well,  yes." 

"How  much?" 

"Well,"  with  doubt  and  hesitation  for  he  was 
in  a  new  world  where  the  gold  grew  upon  the 
trees.  l  i  Well,  you  may  have  them  for  ten  dollars. ' ' 

"Here's  your  money,"   said  the  buyer. 

Directly  afterwards  other  men,  strolling  along 
the  water  front,  saw  the  luscious  product  of  the 
tropics  and  one  of  them  said  to  the  new  owner, 
"How  many  are  there  in  the  bunch?" 

"Six." 

"Want  to  sell  'em  all?" 

"No." 

47 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

"Will  you  sell  three?" 

"Yes." 

"How  much?" 

"Fifteen  dollars." 

"Here's  your  money,"  and  he  walked  off  leav 
ing  the  first  buyer  with  three  fine  piueapples  and 
five  dollars.  The  New  Yorker  glided  away  with 
that  abstract  expression  of  feature  that  belongs  to 
new  students  of  Euclid. 

The  costume,  besides  the  universal  revolver, 
comprised  a  red  shirt,  corduroy  breeches,  and  top 
boots.  The  red  shirt,  sometimes  blue,  was  espe 
cially  in  demand.  To  note  a  man  walking  in  this 
apparel  without  coat  or  waistcoat  and  with  his 
head  surmounted  by  a  black  silk  top  hat  would 
seem  to  us  an  amusing  incongruity;  still  it  was 
the  prevailing  style  among  the  richer  residents. 

Amid  such  scenes  and  people,  Broderick  began 
his  new  life.  He  commenced  with  a  resolute  spirit 
and  purpose  few  of  those  who  preceded  or  followed 
could  rival  or  excel.  Before  many  days  he  con 
ceived  a  clever  and  ingenious  undertaking.  Gold 
and  silver  coins,  together  with  gold  dust  were  the 
medium  of  exchange.  There  was  no  paper  money 
or  currency,  nor  was  there  a  mint  to  transmute 
the  metal  morsels  into  coined  money.  The  customs 
dues  were  large  and  the  government  would  receive 
in  payment  only  gold  and  silver  coins. 

The  bulk  of  the  money  was  brought  in  by  the 
48 


1849 

Americans  and  other  immigrants,  and  as  all  sums 
were  retained  by  the  government,  except  the  much 
smaller  amounts  disbursed  as  salaries  to  federal 
officers,  the  scarcity  of  gold  coins  became  daily  more 
acute. 

Broderick  formed  a  business  relationship  with 
an  assayer  and  at  once  began  the  manufacture 
of  five-and  ten-dollar  gold  coins  or  "slugs" 
the  intrinsic  value  of  the  metal  contained  in  each 
coin  relatively,  being  only  four  and  eight  dollars. 
These  bore  an  inscription  consisting  simply  of  the 
date,  location  of  coinage  and  the  value  in  dollars. 

The  coins  readily  passed  current  in  the  com 
munity,  for  they  were  far  more  convenient  and 
comfortable  than  parcels  of  gold  dust,  even  if 
every  one  knew  that  the  intrinsic  was  something 
less  than  the  face  value.  Tradespeople  received 
and  paid  them  freely.  Only  the  last  holders  could 
suffer.  Governments  stamp  a  piece  of  paper  with 
some  marks  and  signs  and  directly  it  becomes  of 
value.  Why  should  not  private  persons  do  the 
same  in  the  absence  of  official  prohibition?  Brod 
erick  proceeded  on  this  assumption  and  gained  im 
mense  profits. 

I  have  said  already  that  he  was  not  a  commercial 
business  man,  and  yet  when  I  reflect,  I  must  admit 
that  the  few  enterprises  in  which  he  engaged  were 
distinct  successes. 

He  added  to  assaying,  the  manufacture  of  jew- 
49 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

elry  and  himself  used  a  sledge  hammer  in  the 
stamping  press.  He  retained  his  interest  in  the 
business  while  absent  in  the  legislature. 

Nothing  important  occurred  during  the  latter 
part  of  his  first  session,  while  he  was  serving  the 
unexpired  term  of  his  predecessor,  which  began  in 
the  autumn  of  1849.  New  elections  were  held  and 
Broderick  was  again  returned  to  the  state  Senate 
representing  the  City  of  San  Francisco. 

In  January,  1851,  hardly  a  fortnight  after  the 
assembling,  occurred  the  first  of  his  California 
rencounters  by  which  he  was  destined,  alas,  to  be 
fated.  The  governor  resigned  and,  under  the  law, 
the  lieutenant  governor  succeeded  to  the  station 
thus  vacated.  The  president  of  the  Senate  was  the 
lieutenant  governor.  His  promotion  to  the  higher 
place  left  his  own  vacant.  Broderick  was  at  once 
indicated  as  an  aspirant.  There  was  a  joint  meet 
ing  of  the  Senate  and  the  Assembly. 

A  member  of  the  Assembly  named  Moore  de 
livered  a  short  address  stating  that  he  was  "op 
posed  to  the  resignation  of  good  men  especially 
when  they  were  to  be  succeeded  in  the  office  by 
persons  about  whose  character  I  know  nothing. ' ' 

This  was  understood  to  apply  to  Broderick.  The 
latter  who  would  brook  nothing,  at  once  arose  and 
made  a  caustic  retort.  The  body  adjourned  in  due 
course  and  later  in  the  day  the  Senate  met  and 
elected  Broderick  lieutenant  governor  of  Califor- 

50 


1849 

nia.  He  was  advancing.  Only  a  little  over  a  year 
in  the  country  and  already  lieutenant  governor. 
An  hour  later  nothing  but  cool  courage  and  calm 
ness  saved  his  ambitious  soul  from  extinction. 
That  evening  Broderick  accompanied  by  a  friend 
passed  Moore  on  a  street.  After  passing,  Broder 
ick  heard  the  words  " scoundrel,  rascal,"  used  by 
Moore.  Broderick  turned  on  his  heel  and  faced 
him.  Moore  produced  a  revolver  and  re 
peated  the  words.  Broderick  immediately  struck  at 
him  but  missed,  and  Moore  was  then  seized  and 
disarmed.  He  was  taken  into  an  apartment  ad 
joining,  but  presently  rushed  out  again  to  Brod 
erick  on  the  street.  Some  one  had  given  Moore 
another  or  the  same  weapon,  and  the  furious  man, 
who  possessed  an  unenviable  reputation  as  a  des 
perado,  levelled  his  weapon  within  a  yard  of  Brod 
erick  who  stood  immobile,  saying,  "I  will  shoot 
you,  you  scoundrel!"  There  was  a  cry  of  "he's 
going  to  fire!"  and  the  crowd  scattered.  But 
Broderick,  turning  his  steel-blue  eyes  sparkling 
with  fire  on  his  assailant  cried:  "You  cowardly 
assassin,  why  don't  you  fire?  You  dare  not 
fire,  you  coward!"  The  two  men  faced  each 
other,  one  with  the  weapon  of  death  trem 
bling  in  his  nervous  hand  and  the  other  armed 
only  with  courage  and  conscience.  Awed  by 
his  resolute  antagonist,  Moore  hesitated.  In  an 
other  moment  the  pistol  was  wrested  from  his 

51 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

grasp  and  Broderick  was  saved.  His  unflinch 
ing  firmness  in  this  affair  together  with  the  eclat  of 
the  office  to  which  he  had  been  just  elevated,  made 
him  at  once  the  most  conspicous  personage  in  the 
legislature  and  brought  him  directly  to  the  knowl 
edge  of  the  miners. 

The  circumstance  that  his  assailant  was  South 
ern  while  he  was  Northern  added  a  graver  tinge 
to  the  colors  of  feeling  that  the  affray  produced. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  the  feud  that  only  ended 
with  his  death.  Personal  courage  is  the  highest 
of  all  human  attributes.  As  long  as  we  love  life 
and  dread  death,  it  shall  be  exalted  above  the 
clouds.  Alexander  killing  the  two  Persian  nobles 
at  Granicus  and  Napoleon  leading  his  grenadiers 
across  the  bridge  at  Lodi  gained  for  themselves 
reputations  excelled  by  the  exploits  of  no  others  as 
generals  or  conquerors. 

Broderick 's  career  in  the  legislature  as  lieuten 
ant  governor  seems  to  have  been  approved.  Here 
is  what  one  of  the  publications  of  that  period  said : 

''Something  is  due  to  this  distinguished  citizen 
for  the  dignity,  ability  and  impartiality  with 
which  he  has  discharged  the  various  arduous 
duties  imposed  upon  the  presiding  officer  of  the 
Senate.  He  has  thus  far  administered  the  duties 
of  that  officer  in  a  manner  gratifying  to  every 
member  of  the  Senate.  I  do  not  know  that  a 
single  member  of  the  opposition  has  at  any  time 

52 


1849 

expressed  dissatisfaction  at  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Broderick  has  performed  his  duties.  This  is 
a  rare  and  exceedingly  gratifying  fact.  A  pre 
siding  officer,  however  just  and  able,  seldom  es 
capes  the  animadversion  of  his  political  opponents. 

"Mr.  Broderick  is  a  good  parliamentarian;  he 
is  familiar  with  parliamentary  rules;  his  decisions 
are  promptly  given,  and  an  appeal  from  one  of 
them  has  never  yet  been  taken  by  any  Senator. 
The  facility  and  despatch  with  which  the  busi 
ness  of  the  Senate  is  transacted  is  a  subject  of 
general  remark  and  congratulation. 

"In  this  respect  the  Senate  of  California  can 
vie  with  the  Senates  of  any  of  the  American 
States. " 

He  was  at  ease  in  political  assemblages.  While 
never  a  fluent  nor  ready  speaker  he  made  a  study 
in  this  position  of  the  ordinary  rules  and  customs 
governing  conventions,  so  that  on  subsequent  oc 
casions  his  tactical  knowledge  of  technical  rules 
was  invaluable  to  his  cause.  At  this  same  legisla 
ture  an  effort  was  made  to  elect  a  successor  to 
Fremont,  whose  term  had  expired.  Fremont  was 
a  Southerner,  but  yet,  in  the  short  period  during 
which  he  was  senator  he  announced  his  positive 
abhorrence  of  slavery.  That,  of  course,  ranged 
against  him  many  of  his  former  friends  and  allies. 
One  hundred  and  forty-two  ballots  were  taken,  and 
there  being  no  election  the  legislature  adjourned, 

53 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

leaving  the  senatorship  vacant.  A  year  passed 
away  and  at  its  next  assembly  the  legislature 
elected  John  B.  Weller,  who  also  was  a  Southerner, 
as  Fremont's  successor. 

Again  was  Broderick's  mettle  tested,  and  again 
was  his  life  in  jeopardy.  The  occasion  was  so 
similar  to  the  one  of  a  year  previous  that  it  would 
be  facile  to  conceive  that  they  were  more  than  a 
coincidence.  Ex-Governor  Smith,  a  man  of  distinc 
tion,  and  ex-governor  of  one  of  the  Southern  states, 
vilipended  Broderick  at  a  Democratic  convention, 
in  a  violent  address.  The  latter  was  not  then 
present  but,  true  to  his  nature,  he  replied  at  the 
next  session  of  the  state  Senate,  virulently  re 
proaching  the  former  official.  Governor  Smith's  son 
promptly  challenged,  and  Broderick  promptly  ac 
cepted.  They  met  in  Contra  Costa  County,  being 
thus  immune  from  arrest,  and  each  opponent  emp 
tied  his  revolver  at  the  other,  standing  twenty 
yards  apart.  Broderick,  who  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  a  good  shot,  missed  altogether,  but  Smith 
with  his  sixth  and  last  bullet  struck  the  watch 
Broderick  carried  in  the  fob  of  his  trousers.  The 
latter 's  skin  was  slightly  abraded  by  the  impact, 
but  the  watch  possibly  saved  his  life. 

Years  later,  after  Broderick's  death,  this  watch 
was  found  among  his  effects  carefully  safeguarded. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  duel,  Broderick,  from 
his  place  in  the  Senate  said: 
54 


1849 

"I  rise,  Mr.  President,  to  a  question  of  privi 
lege.  On  a  former  occasion  I  alluded  from  my 
place  in  the  Senate  to  an  honorable  citizen  by 
name,  reflecting  upon  him  in  somewhat  personal 
language.  My  remarks  on  that  occasion  were 
prompted  by  a  feeling  of  vexation  from  remarks 
reported  to  have  been  made  by  that  gentleman  re 
flecting  upon  myself  in  the  Democratic  Conven 
tion.  I  have  this  day  received  from  Governor 
Smith  a  letter  which  with  the  indulgence  of  the 
Senate  I  will  read: 
'Hon.  D.  C.  Broderick, 

'Sir:  Having  made  remarks  in  the  Democratic 
Convention,  which  yourself  and  others  supposed 
reflected  on  you,  and  having  just  learned  from  a 
reliable  source  that  you  had  no  connection  with 
the  transaction  then  referred  to,  I  now,  deeming  it 
my  duty,  take  great  pleasure  in  withdrawing  any 
thing  then  said  of  a  disagreeable  nature. 

(Signed)  'Yours,  <WM   gMITH>, 


"Regretting  as  I  do  the  occasion  which  led  me 
into  remarks  unpleasant  to  Governor  Smith,  I  now 
take  pleasure  in  promptly  withdrawing  the  same.  '  ' 

I  have  quoted  this  letter  and  his  observations 
textually,  for  I  think  that  what  they  say  is  of  more 
importance  than  what  I  say,  and  it  illuminates  the 
character  of  Broderick.  In  neither  of  these  alter 
cations  was  he  the  aggressor,  and  yet  in  neither  does 
he  seem  entirely  blameless. 

55 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

His  replies  are  not  alone  vigorous,  but  harsh  and 
violent.  They  show  him  to  have  been  stern 
and  implacable;  he  gave  "a  word  for  a  word,  a 
blow  for  a  blow. "  It  is  well  that  the  ascerbities  of 
political  controversies  are  much  more  mellow  now 
than  sixty  years  ago.  We  have  no  duels  nor  do 
we  essay  to  slay  one  another  for  a  mere  quip.  But 
the  words  that  today  cause  a  smile,  in  those  days 
caused  a  shot.  Amid  the  stirring  scenes  of  that 
epoch,  no  man  dared  blench,  and  if  he  was  not 
killed  he  became  popular,  following  Wolseley's 
aphorism  to  the  young  ensign. 

Another  episode  followed.  Stephen  J.  Field — 
who  subsequently  became  a  justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court — was  a  member  of  the  As 
sembly.  He  represented  an  interior  district  and 
had  had  an  embittered  controversy  with  the  judge 
of  the  local  court  before  whom  he  practiced. 

Field  introduced  a  resolution  looking  to  the  im 
peachment  of  his  enemy  and  spoke  thereon.  He 
was  answered  by  Moore,  another  member  of  the 
Assembly,  who  possessed  an  intimate  friendship 
with  Judge  Turner,  the  object  of  Field's  enmity. 
Every  one  carried  weapons.  The  Assembly  em 
braced  thirty-six  members  and  over  two-thirds 
never  appeared  without  displaying  knives  or  pis 
tols  or  both.  It  was  the  habit  for  a  legislator  when 
he  entered  the  sacred  portals  of  the  House  to  take 
off  his  pistols  and  lay  them  in  his  desk  before  re- 
56 


1849 

suming  his  seat.  This  was  so  natural  as  to  attract 
neither  surprise  nor  observation.  But  when  Moore 
arose  to  address  the  Assembly,  he  deliberately 
opened  his  desk,  took  out  two  revolvers,  cocked 
them,  and,  closing  the  lid,  deposited  the  pistols  on 
the  top.  He  then  vilipended  Field  atrociously, 
stigmatising  him  very  offensively  and  declaring 
more  than  once  he  was  responsible  for  his  utter 
ances  both  there  and  elsewhere. 

Field  replied  only  to  his  arguments.  His  epi 
thets  required  another  kind  of  rhetoric.  Hence 
when  the  body  adjourned,  Field  applied  succes 
sively  to  two  brother  members  desiring  them  to 
carry  his  cartel  to  Moore.  Both  declined,  alleging 
the  constitutional  inhibition  against  duelling  and 
its  implication  of  both  principals  and  seconds. 

The  formidable  reputation  of  Moore  as  a  desper 
ado,  was  recalled.  Field  was  troubled  and  discon 
solate.  In  the  evening  while  meditating  sombrely, 
he  wandered  into  the  Senate  chamber  where  sat 
Broderick  writing  at  his  desk.  Up  to  now  they 
enjoyed  but  a  desultory  acquaintance  with  each 
other.  Broderick  looked  up  and  exclaimed,  ' '  Why, 
judge,  you  don't  look  well.  What  is  the  matter?" 
Field  said,  ' '  I  don 't  feel  well  either,  for  I  have  not 
a  friend  in  the  world."  Broderick  continued, 
"What  is  it  worries  you?"  Thereupon  Field  told 
him.  When  Broderick  had  heard  all,  he  at  once 
said,  "My  dear  Field,  I  will  be  your  friend  in  this 

57 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

matter ;  sit  down  and  write  a  note  at  once  to  Moore 
and  I  will  deliver  it."  Field  wrote,  demanding  a 
public  retraction  or  a  duel.  Broderick  directly  called 
on  Moore.  The  latter  after  perusing  the  missive 
stated  that  he  expected  to  be  a  candidate  for  Con 
gress  and  thus  he  could  not  accept  the  challenge. 
But  he  added  that  he  would  meet  Field  in  the 
street  any  time  and  place,  and  be  ready.  Broderick 
asserted  that  a  street  brawl  and  shooting  were  not 
quite  correct  between  gentlemen,  but  if  Moore, 
after  what  he  had  said  in  the  Assembly,  declined  a 
formal  duel,  there  was  no  other  course  but  to  as 
sent  to  his  suggestion,  and  he  added  that  Field 
would  be  found  on  the  street  at  a  stipulated  time 
the  next  morning. 

An  hour  later  Moore  met  Broderick  again  and 
told  him  he  would  reply  to  Field's  note  in  the 
morning  and  that  the  answer  would  be  delivered  by 
Mr.  Baldwin,  another  assemblyman. 

Broderick  took  Field  to  the  outskirts  of  the  town 
in  the  early  dawn,  handed  him  a  navy  revolver  and 
pointing  at  a  knot  on  a  tree  thirty  yards  distant 
said,  " shoot!"  Field  struck  the  knot  three  times 
in  five  shots,  which  is  by  no  means  bad  target  prac 
tice.  They  returned  and  Broderick,  meeting  and 
accosting  Baldwin,  asked  for  Moore's  reply.  Bald 
win  said  that  his  principal  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  do  nothing  farther  in  the  matter.  "Then," 
said  Broderick,  "as  soon  as  the  House  meets,  Judge 
58 


1849 

Field  will  arise  in  his  seat  and  refer  to  the  attack 
on  him  and  to  the  language  of  Moore,  wherein  he 
stated  that  he  held  himself  responsible  for  what  he 
said ;  that  respect  for  the  dignity  of  the  House  had 
prevented  him  from  replying  to  the  attack  at  the 
time  in  the  terms  deserved;  that  he  had  since  de 
manded  satisfaction  of  Moore  for  his  language ;  and 
that  Moore  had  refused  to  respond,  and  will  there 
upon  pronounce  him  a  liar  and  a  coward. ' ' 

"Then,"  said  Baldwin,  "Judge  Field  will  get 
shot  in  his  seat." 

"In  that  case,"  rejoined  Broderick,  "there  will 
be  others  shot,  too. ' '  He  hastened  to  Field,  related 
the  conversation  and  asked  if  the  latter  would  do 
as  he  told  Baldwin.  Field,  who  through  the  entire 
affair  conducted  himself  most  chivalrously,  quickly 
assented. 

The  House  met  a  few  minutes  later.  Broderick 
sat  near  Field  and  around  them  were  a  number  of 
Broderick 's  friends,  fully  armed  and  prepared. 

Both  Moore  and  Field  simultaneously  arose  but 
the  speaker  recognized  Moore,  who  at  once  read  a 
full,  ample  and  satisfactory  apology,  and  that  was 
the  end.  Did  Field  recall  this  memory  when, 
nearly  forty  years  thereafter,  he  beheld  the  slayer 
of  Broderick  fall  dead  at  his  feet!  Tacitus  ob 
serves,  "men's  minds  revert  from  present  to  past, 
with  infinite  apprehension."  It  must  be  confessed 

59 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

that  deeds  like  Broderick's  detailed  in  this  incident 
forge  chains  whose  links  outlast  life. 

Field  escaped  a  dangerous  situation  with  both 
life  and  honor,  and  he  never  forgot  either  the 
occasion  nor  the  man. 

These  occurrences  made  Broderick  a  natural  and 
conscious  leader  in  state  politics  and,  although  he 
tranquilly  returned  to  his  lucrative  pursuit,  he  was 
never  consigned  to  oblivion.  His  term  as  state 
senator  expired;  but  when  next  he  wore  the  toga, 
it  was  in  the  chamber  of  the  United  States  Senate. 


60 


CHAPTER  IV 

PROGRESS 

Meanwhile  the  years  immediately  following  1849 
passed.  The  state  gradually  augmented  its  popu 
lation  to  a  quarter  of  a  million  for  whom  San  Fran 
cisco  was  as  Rome.  San  Jose,  Stockton,  Sacra 
mento,  and  other  interior  towns  came  to  their  own 
slowly.  When  miners  left  the  gold  district  they 
went  directly  to  the  city,  for  in  the  city  they  met 
friends  and  witnessed  amusements.  Every  citizen 
was  struggling  to  improve,  but  it  was  no  slight 
task  to  construct  all  the  muniments  of  a  modern 
town,  such  as  sanitary,  fire,  and  water  necessities, 
streets  and  sidewalks,  from  simple  mud  and  sand, 
with  no  system  of  local  taxation  and  no  insurance. 

It  was  not  until  1852  that  fire  insurance  com 
panies  established  agencies.  All  the  larger  cities 
without  exception  suffered  from  the  devastation  of 
fire.  San  Francisco,  especially,  was  burned  and 
partially  destroyed  time  after  time. 

The  scanty  water  supply,  contained  in  a  few  arti 
ficial  reservoirs  sunk  at  street  corners,  would  be  ex 
hausted  in  an  hour.  During  the  summer,  with  the 
town  fanned  by  the  strong  trade  winds,  any  con 
flagration  was  inevitably  destructive  to  the  tents 

61 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

and  board  shelters.  Ships,  deserted  by  their  crews 
and  anchored  in  the  mud,  which  gradually  mount 
ed  as  the  streets  were  built  into  the  waters,  had 
been  transformed  into  stationary  hotels;  one  even 
served  as  a  prison.  A  number  of  these  ships  were 
destroyed,  the  fires  burning  sails,  shrouds,  masts  and 
bulwarks  down  to  the  level  of  the  soil  in  which  they 
lay  embedded.  The  keels  made  a  good  foundation 
for  a  superstructure  of  shops  and  lodging  houses, 
which  were  rapidly  occupied.  Years  later,  in  re 
moving  the  upper  works  to  build  on  the  now  valu 
able  locations,  keels  of  once  splendid  clippers  that 
queened  the  waves,  have  been  uncovered  from  the 
deep  soil  into  which  they  had  sunk.  In  one  of 
them  were  found  some  baskets  of  champagne,  the 
wine  proving  delicious  to  the  gourmet,  even  after 
thirty-six  years'  submersion.  Good  wine  may  not 
need  a  bush  but  it  does  require  a  cover. 

The  fire  engines  of  this  period  were  manned  by 
volunteers.  Broderick,  faithful  to  his  New  York 
instincts,  had  organized  a  company  of  which  he  was 
foreman  and  the  nominal  distinction  remained  with 
the  name,  though,  of  course,  he  relinquished  his 
active  association  when  higher  aims  intervened. 

Natheless,  the  state  -flourished.  Millions  and 
millions  of  gold  were  annually  extracted  and  the 
mining  area  continually  enlarged.  In  the  north 
half  of  the  state,  embracing  Shasta  and  Yreka — 
regions  that  possessed  only  a  name  in  the  mission- 

62 


n 


PROGRESS 

ary  days — auriferous  soils  were  located.  The  miners 
flocked  to  the  new  placers,  for  whatever  we  may 
have,  we  are  not  content,  and  the  unknown  always 
fascinates.  But  it  was  a  free,  happy,  merry  life 
for  those  young  men,  clad  in  their  red  and  blue 
shirts,  corduroy  trousers  and  top  boots,  hither  and 
thither,  sleeping  beneath  the  stars  and  hoping  to 
find  a  fortune  under  every  stone — in  every  sylvan 
glen  or  in  every  rivulet  that  laced  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vadas.  They  were  forever  searching  for  the  un 
seen  treasure  that  lay  somewhere  beneath  the  soar 
ing  summits;  somewhere  within  those  sunless  re 
cesses,  walled  by  crags  that  leap  to  the  clouds. 

After  the  day 's  toil  came  the  campfires,  near  the 
running  waters  and  under  the  martial  pines.  The 
wild  and  jocund  halloas  filled  the  canon  and  were 
lost  surmounting  the  trees.  The  beauty  of  these 
wild  woods  where  one  communes  with  unviolated 
nature,  refreshes  the  brain,  fills  the  lungs,  and 
lightens  the  spirit.  The  dreamless  repose;  the 
carol  of  the  exulting  birds;  and  the  awakening 
slumber  shaking  from  its  wings  the  refreshing  dew 
— such  was  the  beatific  existence  in  those  halcyon 
days,  with  the  delvers  searching  for  the  stone  of 
Fortunatus. 

The  successful  adventurers  came  to  the  urban 
places  during  the  winter;  the  others  built  cabins 
and  mined,  the  rains  softening  the  soil  and  render 
ing  it  much  easier  to  treat. 

63 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Presently  the  splendid  resources  of  the  country 
for  agriculture  were  manifested  and  people  began 
to  cultivate  the  land.  Most  of  the  flour  was  im 
ported  from  South  America  and  cargoes  and  car 
goes  of  cereals,  coming  from  New  York  and  foreign 
lands,  were  wafted  to  California  shores. 

During  the  year  1852,  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  vessels  arrived  from  abroad  in  the  port  of 
San  Francisco,  including  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  American  ships.  Fancy  that  proportion  to 
day!  Only  one  in  ten  foreign-made  or  foreign- 
manned  ! 

Gradually  the  farmer  raised  many  articles  of 
food  cheaper  and  more  appetizing  than  the  im 
ported  kinds,  and  the  old  days  of  speculators  buy 
ing  all  of  a  certain  commodity  in  the  market  and 
then  doubling  the  price  passed  away.  Many  found 
it  more  profitable  and,  at  least,  less  uncertain  than 
mining,  and  continued  to  prosper  until  gold  be 
came  second  in  value  to  other  products  of  the  soil. 
But  with  this  Arcadian  similitude,  living  was  cheap 
both  at  the  mines  and  in  the  towns  of  the  seaboard. 

Every  miner  slung  his  six  shooter  at  his  waist 
on  going  out  of  his  abode.  In  San  Francisco  in 
1851  no  one  was  safe  from  assaults,  even  on  the 
streets  or  in  his  home.  Hence  every  one  carried 
deadly  weapons — the  revolver  or  the  bowie  knife. 

The  number  of  duels  and  personal  encounters 
was  prodigious.  From  the  day  they  disembarked 

64 


PROGRESS 

the  new  arrivals  found  excitement.  A  month  was 
a  year;  a  week  a  month.  Each  day  had  its  own 
history  both  for  the  town  and  for  individuals.  The 
pleasures  were  restless  not  tranquil  and  no  one  had 
leisure  to  be  courteous.  Perhaps  one  man  calls  an 
other  a  liar  and,  instantly — revolvers,  shooting, 
silence !  The  silenced  may  be  an  innocent  bystand 
er  rather  than  the  half -drunken  reveler.  The  South 
Americans  and  Mexicans  favored  the  bowie  knife. 
It  was  discreet,  and,  handled  with  adroitness  and 
dexterity,  might  be  quicker  than  the  pistol.  Brawls 
occurred  nightly.  No  one  was  arrested ;  no  one 
warned,  except,  perhaps,  by  his  enemy.  The  prison 
was  a  ship,  and  the  police  too  few  and  inefficient. 
But  the  avenging  Vigilance  Committee  eventually 
applied  to  these  evils  drastic  and  efficacious  reme 
dies. 

The  commerce  of  the  city  enlarged  with  increas 
ing  values  during  the  passing  years.  In  new  forma 
tions  one  often  finds  some  simple  but  necessary 
ingredient  lacking,  the  least  valuable  and  yet  most 
wanting.  After  one  of  the  usual  normal  conflagra 
tions  small  tacks  were  in  demand  to  nail  cloth  and 
muslin  on  wooden  partitions.  The  supply  was  ex 
hausted  and  they  sold  as  gold,  weight  for  weight 
—tacks  on  one  side  of  the  scales  and  gold  on  the 
other  until  nicely  balanced.  They  were  like  Cru 
soe's  axe,  which  was  more  valuable  to  him  than  all 
his  Spanish  doubloons. 

65 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Meanwhile,  in  the  city,  better  hotels  and  theatres 
— buildings  of  brick  and  stone — were  erected. 
Streets  were  excavated  from  the  sand,  mud  and 
bogs,  paved  and  sewered.  The  invisible  lots  under 
the  water-front  were  sold  on  various  occasions  at 
auction  and  the  purchasers  piled,  capped,  and 
built  thereon,  thereby  adding  a  new  quarter.  It 
was  by  purchasing  at  these  public  sales  that  Brod- 
erick  became  wealthy.  His  avocation  of  rivaling 
the  alchemists  had  many  competitors,  including,  at 
length,  the  Federal  government  which  established 
an  assay  office  in  San  Francisco. 

Foreseeing  this  result  he  invested  his  capital  and 
all  he  could  borrow  in  water  lots.  He  was  a  bold 
man,  who  was  forever  daring  Chance. 

Though  he  never  "gambled,"  yet  he  speculated 
with  his  life  and  future,  unlocked  and  open.  These 
properties  increased  in  value  many  fold  and  there 
after  he  experienced  no  real  want  of  money  for  his 
political  campaigns. 

Not  for  a  day,  not  for  a  moment  had  he  for 
gotten  his  matured  resolve  to  become  senator  from 
California.  Like  the  coral  insects  he  labored  and 
built  without  cessation.  Entirely  dedicated  to  am 
bition,  he  did  not  relax,  but  placed  stone  after 
stone  on  the  temple  of  his  life. 

He  was  omniscient  in  all  public  matters.  Was 
it  a  committee  to  send  succor  to  distressed  immi 
grants — Broderick  was  chairman.  Was  it  a  ques- 

66 


PROGRESS 

tion  of  a  new  municipal  building  for  the  city — 
there  he  was  in  the  familiar  plaza,  relic  of  Mexican 
days,  where  all  gatherings  were  held,  positive, 
brusque,  intolerant,  triumphant.  He  was  a  most 
energetic  citizen  and  nothing  could  daunt  his  reso 
lution. 

Everybody  respected  him  and  some  liked  him. 
He  became  more  dignified,  austere  and  reserved. 
The  man  seemed  to  grow  with  the  glow  of  his  in 
tense  mentality. 

It  was  no  longer  "How  are  you,  Dave?"  But 
"How  are  you,  Mr.  Broderick?"  The  press  al 
ways  wrote  of  him  as  the  "Hon.  D.  C.  Broderick." 
Even  the  roystering  firemen,  boyhood  companions 
of  New  York  days,  who  had  followed  him  towards 
the  setting  sun,  became  quiet  and  considerate  in  his 
presence.  To  preserve  and  deserve  this  transition 
he  became  studious. 

He  had  attended  school  but  very  little  while  a 
boy.  His  father  died  when  he  was  fourteen  and 
there  were  his  mother  and  brother.  Books  were 
almost  a  puzzle  to  him.  His  brain  was  concrete, 
not  abstract;  practical,  not  didactic.  His  place 
was  in  the  open,  not  in  the  study,  or  office.  So  he 
set  himself  now  to  make  the  new  cogs  that  he  felt 
essential  to  the  wheel  of  his  future.  He  read  and 
studied  night  after  night  in  his  quiet  room,  like 
a  school  boy  preparing  for  college.  It  is  said 
that  he  engaged  an  apartment  distant  from  his 

67 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

usual  domicile,  where  he  spent  long  hours  in  ab 
sorbing  knowledge,  the  knowledge  that  books  im 
part.  Certainly  there  was  nothing  in  his  conversa 
tion  thereafter  that  betrayed  a  lack  of  cultivation. 

He  dressed  carefully  in  the  ordinary  apparel 
of  the  merchant  or  statesman ;  black  frock  coat,  vest 
and  tie,  with  white  shirt.  Rather  an  innovation  if 
not  an  improvement  on  the  red  shirt,  high  boots, 
corduroy  trousers  and  belted  six-shooter  of  '49. 
Broderick  seldom  carried  a  weapon,  by  day  or 
night,  even  when  his  life  was  threatened,  which 
was  more  the  observance  than  the  breach.  Only 
cowards  go  armed.  He  was  strong,  active,  broad 
shouldered,  a  good  boxer,  and  could  easily  take 
care  of  himself  with  most  men. 

In  San  Francisco  he  became  the  dictator  of  the 
municipality.  His  political  lessons  and  observa 
tions  in  New  York  were  priceless.  He  intro 
duced  a  modification  of  the  same  organization  in 
San  Francisco  with  which  Tammany  has  controlled 
New  York  for  lo !  these  many  years. 

It  was  briefly  this.  At  a  forthcoming  election 
a  number  of  offices  were  to  be  filled ;  those  of  sher 
iff,  district  attorney,  alderman,  and  places  in  the 
legislature.  Several  of  these  positions  were  very 
lucrative,  notably  that  of  the  sheriff,  tax-collector 
and  assessor.  The  incumbents  received  no  speci 
fied  salaries,  but  were  entitled  to  all  or  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  fees.  These  fees  occasionally 

68 


PROGRESS 

exceeded  $50,000  per  annum.  Broderick  would 
say  to  the  most  popular  or  the  most  desirable  as 
pirant:  "This  office  is  worth  $50,000  a  year. 
Keep  half  and  give  me  the  other  half,  which  I 
require  to  keep  up  our  organization  in  the  city  and 
state.  Without  intelligent,  systematic  discipline 
neither  you  nor  I  can  win,  and  our  opponents  will 
conquer,  unless  I  have  money  enough  to  pay  the 
men  whom  I  may  find  necessary.  If  you  agree 
to  that  arrangement  I  will  have  you  nominated 
when  the  convention  assembles  and  then  we  will 
all  pull  together  until  after  the  election."  Pos 
sibly  this  candidate  dissented,  but  then  someone 
else  consented,  and  as  the  town  was  hugely  Demo 
cratic  his  selections  were  usually  victorious.  It 
may  be  asked,  who  gave  him  power  and  authority  ? 
By  what  right  dared  he  assume  this  prerogative? 
What  monarch  constituted  him  viceroy  and  or 
dained  that  he  should  dictate  to  the  citizens  of 
San  Francisco,  the  men  who  should  rule  the  city, 
manage  its  finances,  direct  its  police,  choose  its 
judges  and  control  its  schools?  Broderick  might 
have  responded  in  the  words  of  Napoleon  when 
he  said  that  "he  found  the  crown  of  France  in 
the  gutter,  picked  it  up  and  put  it  on  his  head." 
When  he  came  there  was  chaos  and  he  created 
order.  There  was  no  party  system  in  the  town 
and  he  constructed  one.  It  was  the  beginning  and 
he  was  perforce  the  architect.  He  was  also  ship- 

69 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

wright  and  captain.  Yet  he  never  interfered  in 
local  affairs  nor  undertook  to  influence  the  city 
officials  on  purely  civic  questions.  It  was  said 
of  him,  from  the  first  that  he  was  a  citizen  of  Cali 
fornia,  and  not  of  any  section.  For  the  same 
methods  that  were  so  brilliantly  successful — be 
cause  methodically  directed  in  the  city — he  intro 
duced  into  the  more  populous  counties.  He  was 
as  supreme  in  Sacramento  as  in  San  Francisco 
and  in  every  region  of  importance  he  maintained 
men  whose  care  it  was  to  proselytise  Broderick 
adherents,  and  above  all  to  select  legislative  can 
didates  who  would  be  favorable  to  his  well  known 
and  openly  avowed  candidacy  for  the  senate.  These 
men  were  paid  by  Broderick  a  regular  stipend, 
like  employees  in  a  merchandise  establishment, 
when  he  could  find  for  them  no  permanent  appoint 
ment. 

However,  from  1854  he  was  the  recipient  from 
Governor  Bigler  of  considerable  patronage.  Brod 
erick,  it  was  said,  elected  the  governor,  and  the 
latter  liquidated  the  indebtedness  by  accepting 
many  of  the  former's  recommendations  to  state 
positions. 

This  enabled  him  to  provide  for  a  number  of 
retainers.  In  the  city  likewise  he  would  stipulate 
with  his  party  associates  or  rather  subordinates  for 
a  certain  proportion  of  their  office  employees.  Thus 
from  these  double  sources  he  supplied  sustenance 

70 


PROGRESS 

for  a  number  of  capable  politicians  who  became 
his  devoted  friends  and  partisans. 

Surely  he  needed  friends  to  counterpoise  the 
bitter  enemies  who  daily  augmented.  During  this 
period  of  his  career  he  displayed  but  little  tact  or 
discretion.  He  was  intolerant,  irritating  and  dog 
matic.  If  one  was  not  with  him,  why  then  one 
was  against  him.  But  later,  when  he  found  the 
steps  he  strove  to  ascend  so  steep  and  slippery, 
he  sought  for  helping  hands  wherever  proffered  and 
asked  and  accepted  assistance  gratefully  from 
whatever  source.  Broderick  has  never  been  ac 
cused  of  personal  jobbery.  His  legislative  repu 
tation  was  unblemished.  He  might  be  quarrelsome, 
vindictive  and  harbor  doubtful  associates,  but  he 
never  descended  to  vulgar  venality.  The  tribute 
he  collected  from  his  official  satellites  was  dis 
bursed  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  party.  It 
was  well  understood  that  his  personal  contribution 
and  expenses  largely  exceeded  his  tithes. 

If  there  was  a  hall  to  be  engaged,  bands  of  music 
to  be  provided,  platforms  to  be  erected,  banners 
to  be  bought,  election  quarters  to  be  taken,  it  was  to 
him  that  they  went  and  he  judged,  selected,  de 
cided,  and  paid.  He  was  omniscient  and  inde 
fatigable.  As  one  of  the  opposing  periodicals 
said:  "Broderick  from  '52  to  '54  was  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  Since  the  organization  of  the  party 
in  California  he  has  been  its  most  active  and  effi- 

71 


A   SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

cient  member*.  His  strong  and  decided  character 
is  known  to  every  one.  Vehement  in  his  nature, 
unbending  in  his  will,  he  has  the  intuitive  political 
sagacity  which  fits  him  for  the  people. ' ' 

He  required  very  little  personally.  He  neither 
drank,  smoked  nor  gambled,  nor  was  his  name  ever 
associated  writh  lewd  women.  Society  was  in  em 
bryo.  He  had  no  vices  save  one,  ambition — if  it  be 
a  vice — to  seek  to  govern  and  that,  like  the  rod  of 
Aaron,  consumed  all  others. 

The  result  of  the  election  in  1853  was  disappoint 
ing.  His  friend  Bigler  was  elected  governor,  but 
the  legislature  was  of  a  doubtful  complexion. 

That  body  assembled  in  Benicia  in  January,  1854. 
The  term  of  Gwin,  one  of  the  senators,  expired 
in  March,  1855,  and  that  of  Weller,  his  colleague, 
in  March,  1857,  two  years  later.  The  legislature 
met  in  January  of  each  year  and  it  was  the  un- 
violated  custom  to  elect  the  senator  during  the 
session  immediately  preceding  the  expiration  of 
the  incumbent's  term.  This  was  indeed  the  pur 
port  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Gwin's  six  years  expired  in  March,  1855,  so  to 
the  legislature  assembling  in  January,  1855,  for 
they  were  annually  chosen,  would  properly  fall  the 
function  of  selecting  his  successor.  But  Broderick 
from  the  depths  of  his  restless  and  fertile  brain 
evolved  a  bold,  novel,  and  ingenious  project. 

The  legislature  of  1855  would  have  to  be  elected. 
72 


PROGRESS 

He  did  not  know  how  the  future  would  affect  his 
aspirations.  One  can  not  see  a  day  ahead;  how, 
then,  can  one  prophesy  what  fate  may  bring  in  the 
course  of  a  year?  He  carefully  canvassed  the 
members  of  the  '54  body,  then  in  session,  and  de 
cided  that  his  chance  for  election  to  the  Senate 
by  them  was  at  least  equal  to  that  of  any  other 
man. 

The  first  movement  was  to  persuade  this  legis 
lature  to  elect  the  senator  themselves  and  for  that 
purpose  a  measure  would  have  to  be  passed  author 
izing  such  action.  So  he  launched  his  revolutionary 
project,  and  his  partisans  to  a  man  sustained  the 
proposition.  This  is  not  strange  as  we  commence 
to  appreciate  his  positive  force,  though  it  must  have 
caused  odd  misgivings  to  some  of  his  followers. 
But  not  one  faltered.  They  closed  ranks  and 
moved  on  the  common  enemy.  For  every  one  who 
was  not  a  Broderickite  came  together  after  the  first 
spasm  of  astonishment  and  indignation.  It  was 
not  then  a  question  of  party.  It  was  Broderick 
and  anti-Broderick. 

Even  the  Whigs,  who  mustered  a  small  num 
ber  of  votes,  took  sides  and  were  by  no  means 
unanimous.  Of  course,  Gwin  and  Weller,  both  of 
whom  wished  to  retain  their  exalted  and  dis 
tinguished  stations,  united.  They  were  absent  in 
Washington,  but  they  possessed  adroit  and  capable 
friends  at  Benicia.  And  there  were  several  other 
73 


A   SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

gentlemen  who  had  hopes  and  aspirations.  Broder- 
ick  was  not  the  only  statesman  who  strove  to  mount 
the  capitol  steps.  All  these  combined,  formed  a 
phalanx,  which,  composed  as  it  was  of  various  and 
incongruous  elements,  yet  valiantly  breasted  the 
Broderick  array.  In  the  Assembly  the  measure 
directing  the  legislature  to  elect  a  United  States 
senator  at  the  session  passed,  which  was  a  victory 
for  Broderick.  It  was  different  in  the  Senate. 

In  that  smaller  body  the  aligned  forces  were 
more  equally  matched.  The  Broderick  senators 
were  immovable;  like  Spartans  they  never 
changed.  Nothing  could  alter  their  devotion,  and 
to  a  man  they  never  missed  a  session  during  a  long 
two  months  while  this  bill  was  on  the  table.  Not 
one  was  absent,  and  they  wTere  ever  at  the  behest 
and  command  of  the  chief  for  any  deed  or  pur 
pose  looking  to  success. 

But  with  the  opposition  it  was  not  so  unani 
mous.  They  had  several  chiefs  instead  of  one, 
and  many  intrigues  of  which  the  Broderick  men 
tried  to  make  capital. 

It  is  related  that  one  of  the  opposition  senators 
was  invited  to  ride  behind  two  fine  horses  driven 
by  a  warm  friend  who  was,  however,  a  Broderick 
partisan.  On  a  level,  pleasant  road  his  friend 
carelessly  drove  into  a  ditch  and  both  were  slightly 
injured.  After  his  return  our  prudent  senator 
reflected  and  the  more  he  reflected  the  more  pe- 
74 


PROGRESS 

culiar  he  thought  the  accident.  There  was  to  be 
no  "pairing"  nor  explanations;  if  a  man  was  not 
in  his  seat  his  vote  was  not  counted,  so  a  very 
slight  mishap,  one  that  might  keep  a  member  to  his 
chamber  for  only  a  day,  could  be  disastrous. 

After  cogitating,  he  arose  like  David  and  went 
forth  to  his  friends  who  locked  him  in  a  room, 
where  he  was  carefully  guarded  from  intrusion  or 
molestation  until  the  hour  of  voting.  The  result 
was  a  tie,  and  the  lieutenant  governor  cast  his  vote 
affirmatively,  thus  giving  the  measure  a  majority  of 
one.  A  reconsideration  was  moved  and,  according 
to  parliamentary  usage,  the  vote  would  have  to  be 
confirmed  at  the  next  session. 

The  Santa  Clara  senator  was  named  Grewell. 
He  had  been  a  clergyman  nor  did  he  deny  the  asser 
tion.  That  he  was  vacillating  and  impressionable 
became,  to  state  moderately  in  the  following  re 
cital,  quite  clear.  He  was  a  Whig  and  from  char 
acter  and  associations  would  be  naturally  anti- 
Broderick.  He  was,  therefore,  ranked  with  the 
allies  and  had  hitherto  supported  them. 

But  the  Broderick  people  were  vigilant  and 
sleepless.  Every  senator  opposed  was  taken  to  the 
summit  of  the  Mount  and  there  proffered  the  earth 
and  all  contained  therein,  as  a  recruit  for  the 
standard.  One  of  the  most  fervent  of  the  Broder 
ick  contingent,  the  leading  banker  of  San  Francisco, 
had  several  private  interviews  with  Grewell.  No 

75 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

matter  how  carefully  concealed,  very  little  was  done 
on  one  side  that  was  not  known  to  the  other.  The 
allies  reflected. 

Like  the  boatman  in  Dumas'  novel,  who  had 
conversed  with  "milady"  and  therefore  was  no 
longer  safe,  Grewell  had  met  the  banker  and  there 
fore  required  surveillance.  He  lived  in  San  Jose, 
fifty  miles  away.  A  mounted  rider  was  sent  on 
relays  of  speedy  steeds  to  that  place.  He  arrived 
at  midnight  in  a  pitiless  storm,  delaying  en  route 
only  to  remount.  He  brought  a  letter  to  the  self- 
appointed  anti-Broderick  guardian  of  Grewell. 
The  latter  was  awakened,  placed  in  a  carriage  and 
driven  towards  Sacramento.  Half  way,  he  met 
another  agent  who  received  the  consignment  from 
the  San  Jose  cerberus  and  conveyed  it  safely  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  allies.  But  the  suasive  elo 
quence  of  the  banker  was  yet  potent,  for  Grewell, 
when  momentarily  unobserved,  escaped  from  his 
captors  and  rushed  to  the  realms  of  the  enemy, 
by  whom  he  was  comforted,  cherished,  and  con 
fined. 

These  events  had  occupied  several  days  and  they 
included  the  unavailing  pursuit  of  the  allied 
Grewell  cavalcade  by  Broderick  forces,  who  ascer 
tained  too  late  the  cause  of  his  sudden  and  mys 
terious  disappearance  from  San  Jose. 

Grewell  was  kept  like  a  precious  jewel  all  that 
Sunday  in  the  Broderick  refuge  for  the  repentant, 
76 


PROGRESS 

and  on  Monday  when  the  session  opened  he  ap 
peared  in  his  seat  and  voted  affirmatively,  thus 
causing  a  tie.  But,  as  Paul  Jones  said,  the  fight 
was  only  begun.  Both  sides  possessed  champions 
of  resource,  artifice,  and  enterprise,  and  the  allies 
well  knew  that  if  they  could  re-capture  Grewell 
his  uncertain  temperament  might  again  be  oscil 
lated.  They  sent  out  scouts  who,  after  quiet  but 
skillful  researches  over  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  town,  located  the  apartment  wherein  he  was 
harbored  and  guarded  by  a  faithful  henchman  of 
Broderick.  But  the  faithful  one  was  known  to 
be  quite  susceptible  to  agreeable  beverages.  He 
was  liberally  and  quite  unsuspectingly  supplied 
by  a  common  friend,  who  nevertheless  represented 
the  allies. 

There  seems  to  have  been  rapid  conversions  in 
those  delectable  days.  At  the  midnight  hour,  in 
stocking  feet  and  pistol  in  hand,  the  latest  friend 
stealthily  opened  the  door  of  the  chamber  where 
Grewell  and  his  guileless  guardian  slept.  The 
latter  still  slumbered  heavily,  but  Grewell  was 
quietly  awakened,  told  to  arise  and  go  forth.  He 
did  as  bidden,  and  after  a  tender  and  interesting 
conference  with  the  Whig  leader,  he  entered  the 
Senate  at  the  next  session  and  coolly  reversed  his 
vote  of  the  previous  day,  ascribing  his  altered  atti 
tude  to  "telegraphic  despatches"  from  his  constitu 
ents. 

77 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Of  such  was  the  nature  of  California  legisla 
tures  even  five  lustrums  ago.  The  changing  of 
Grewell's  vote  caused  the  failure  of  the  measure 
and  annihilated  the  darling  ambition  of  Broderick 
for  the  time.  But,  though  beaten,  he  had  defied 
and  fought  all  of  whatever  rank  or  party  were  al 
lied  against  him,  and  was  defeated  only  then  by  the 
relapse  of  a  traitor.  I  think  it  was  Dean  Rich 
mond  who  drank  a  toast  to  "the  damned  rascal 
who  will  stay  bought. "  I  do  not  mean  to  state  that 
Grewell  had  been  corrupted,  but  a  man  who  so 
shamelessly  and  brazenly  reversed  his  action  over 
night  subjects  his  conduct  to  the  worst  inferences. 

Among  those  who  stood  forward  as  champions 
of  Broderick  were  two  men  who  afterward  be 
came  celebrated  in  other  places.  One  was  Stephen 
J.  Field,  who  died  a  Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court.  The  second  was  William  Walker 
who,  a  year  or  two  afterward,  endeavored  to  sub 
jugate  Central  American  States,  emulating  Morgan, 
but  with  different  success,  for  the  one  was  ennobled 
and  the  other  shot.  California  was  then  the  home 
of  the  world's  choice  spirits.  The  courage  and 
hardihood  which  transported  them  in  safety  from 
remote  distances  to  this  unknown  land  still  wrought 
like  an  Homeric  legend  and  built  from  nothing 
this  unique  factor  of  the  American  structure. 

I  cannot  discover  in  this  initial  combat  for  the 
throne  a  division  of  forces  on  sectional  or  racial 
78 


PROGRESS 

lines.  It  was  simply  Broderick  and  anti-Broderick. 
The  Northern  and  Southern  alignment  did  not  ap 
pear  so  strongly  until  some  years  later  when 
Broderick  was  a  senator  and  discussed  the  national 
issues  that  led  to  the  Civil  War. 

Broderick 's  supporters  comprised  a  number  of 
the  most  ardent  Southerners,  and  among  his  most 
envenomed  opponents  were  several  New  Yorkers 
from  his  own  state.  The  conflict  was  waged  then 
and  for  three  years  more,  until  his  ultimate  suc 
cess  revolved  around  his  individual  personality. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  he  was  not  the  only 
person  that  wished  to  be  senator,  and  all  these  of 
course  opposed  his  aspirations.  It  was  one  against 
all  and  all  against  one.  He  openly  avowed  his 
candidacy  and  frankly  said  that  those  who  would 
not  assist  he  would  regard  as  enemies.  Therefore 
it  can  easily  be  understood  that  what  supporters 
he  had  would  follow  him  forever.  After  this 
struggle  there  would  be  no  traitors  and  there  were 
none.  Once  a  Broderick  man,  always  a  Broderick 
man — against  the  world.  Yet  his  imperiousness, 
annoyed  and  irritated  adherents,  and  his  lack  of 
mental  equipoise  lost  associates.  He  was  reproached 
for  not  taking  counsel  with  his  friends.  He  said : 
"I  do,  but  I  do  not  let  them  control.  A  leader 
must  lead  even  if  he  commits  errors.  Men  will 
follow  the  man  who  decides  and  acts  while  others 
are  temporizing.  My  goal  is  the  Senate  and  I  will 

79 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

arrive,  if  living.  Why,"  he  added,  "to  sit  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  as  a  senator  for  one 
day,  I  would  consent  to  be  roasted  in  a  slow  fire 
on  the  plaza."  Such  fierce  resolve  wins,  as  most 
men  win  who  set  their  lives  to  the  accomplishment 
of  a  certain  design.  It  is  energy,  persistence,  and 
consistency. 


80 


CHAPTER  V 

CONFLICT 

The  state  legislature  of  1854  ended  its  days 
in  March  of  the  same  year.  The  state  Democratic 
convention  assembled  in  July,  1854,  at  Sacramento 
to  nominate  candidates  for  various  offices,  the  elec 
tion  to  be  held  in  the  autumn.  The  Broderick  feud 
had  become,  by  now,  the  web  and  warp  and  woof  of 
the  land.  It  entered  into  the  arcanum  of  every 
county,  every  town,  every  miners'  camp.  From 
the  base  of  Mount  Shasta,  whose  summit,  lifted 
high,  eternally  guarded  its  white  cerement,  to  the 
sea-bound  cypresses  of  Monterey,  California,  was 
divided.  Several  counties  held  Broderick  and  anti- 
Broderick  local  meetings  and  elected  contesting 
delegations  to  the  state  convention.  The  ruling  law 
did  not  permit  delegations  from  districts  which 
were  divided  to  participate  in  the  first  deliberations 
of  the  convocation.  Only  those  whose  seats  were 
not  disputed  possessed  that  privilege.  Even  San 
Francisco,  where  Broderick  had  hitherto  reigned 
with  a  level  hand,  sent  an  opposing  delegation, 
whose  claims  must  be  decided  by  the  convention 
and  pending  which  the  members  of  neither  could 
vote.  However  Broderick  himself  as  chairman  of 

81 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

the  state  committee  would  preside  at  the  first  ses 
sion  and  entertain  preliminary  motions. 

Large  halls  were  scarce  and  a  church  was  chosen. 
The  Broderick  men  were  allowed  ingress  by  a 
small  side  door  prior  to  the  appointed  moment, 
so  that  they  might  occupy  the  best  seats  in  front. 
The  strategem  availed  little,  however,  for  the  op 
posing  forces  as  soon  as  the  broad  doors  leading 
into  the  sacred  edifice  were  thrown  apart,  rushed 
in  and  passing  rapidly  down  the  chancel,  forced 
their  way  bodily  to  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  where 
stood  Broderick.  After  the  tumult  had  partially 
ceased  he  addressed  the  body,  declaring  the  con 
vention  open  and  inviting  proposals  for  temporary 
presiding  officer.  Two  men  arose,  simultaneously, 
one  of  them  suggesting  a  partisan  and  the  other  an 
opponent  of  Broderick  for  the  position.  Broderick 
recognized  his  adherent,  put  his  motion,  and  de 
clared  Judge  Edward  McGowan  chosen  chair 
man.  But  the  others  were  clamoring  for  recogni 
tion,  which  he  declined,  declaring  his  duty  fulfilled. 
Thereupon,  one  of  his  enemies,  from  the  chancel 
of  the  church,  offered  a  resolution,  and  after  a 
pandemonium  of  affirmatives,  announced  that  Gov 
ernor  McDougall  had  been  also  duly  elected  chair 
man. 

Thirty  resolute  men,    armed  with  knives,   der 
ringers    and   revolvers,    surrounded    and   escorted 
McDougall  to  the  platform  near  the  pulpit  and 
82 


CONFLICT 

seated  him  in  a  chair,  whilst  McGowan  confronted 
him  from  another.  Distinguished  among  the  fore 
most  of  the  thirty  by  his  tall,  slender,  straight- 
backed  figure  and  steady  poise  stood  David  S. 
Terry,  whose  name  later  mingled  in  death  with 
that  of  Broderick. 

Pistols  were  uncovered,  bowie-knives  glittered; 
every  man  in  the  church  was  alert  and  intense. 
Only  a  miracle  prevented  a  massacre.  In  that  con 
fined  area  each  bullet  would  find  a  victim.  A  revol 
ver  in  the  hands  of  a  nervous  delegate  was  acci 
dentally  discharged  and  both  factions  only  hesitated 
to  learn  who  had  shot,  whilst  a  few  prudent  war 
riors  instantly  vaulted  through  stained-glass  win 
dows,  bearing  with  them  the  image  of  God.  Brod 
erick  himself  displayed  in  this  fearful  hour  rare 
tact,  courage  and  moderation.  A  person  noted  more 
for  his  skill  as  a  scribe  than  as  a  marksman  and 
who  many  years  after  constituted  himself  Brod 
erick 's  by-no-means  profound  or  impartial  biogra 
pher,  excitedly  drew  a  revolver  and  with  trem 
bling  hand  brandished  it  before  Broderick 's  face. 
' ' Take  care, ' '  said  the  latter,  "take  care ;  that  might 
go  off  and  you  may  hurt  someone, ' '  and  very  delib 
erately  (he  seems  never  to  hurry)  he  leaned  for 
ward,  wrested  the  weapon  from  the  palsied  grasp 
and  carefully  laid  it  on  the  table. 

Nevertheless,  the  angry,  tenacious,  tumultuous 
throng  remained  in  sullen  conclave  for  five  hours 

83 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

disdaining  fruitless  efforts  to  harmonize.  Neither 
wing  would  tolerate  speeches  by  their  opponents. 

Governor  Bigler,  a  Broderick  adherent,  was 
hooted  and  forced  from  the  pulpit  platform,  while 
the  leading  men  of  the  allies  were  served  no  better. 
The  two  chairmen  sat  side  by  side  quite  helpless 
in  the  uproar  and  darkness,  which  now  came  on,  for 
the  pastor  after  vainly  imploring  them  to  vacate  and 
not  stain  the  house  of  God  with  hot,  sinful  blood,  re 
fused  lamps  and  they  were  perforce  content  with 
two  dip  candles  placed  on  the  top  of  the  pulpit.  For 
one  side  to  adjourn  first  was  to  confess  defeat 
and  grant,  to  the  other,  perhaps,  nominal  claims  of 
legality.  Finally,  a  compromise  was  effected  and 
the  two  chairmen  with  locked  arms  descended 
from  the  platform,  proceeded  down  the  aisle  and 
out  into  the  world,  followed  by  the  whole  conven 
tion  in  the  same  equitable  manner. 

The  following  day  the  Broderick  battalion  and 
their  opponents  met  separately.  Several  fruitless 
and  half-hearted  attempts  at  compromise  were  of 
fered  but  little  disposition  to  unite  was  evinced. 
Like  Orlando  they  were  content  to  be  better  stran 
gers.  In  this  mood  each  body  selected  different 
candidates  for  the  ensuing  election  and  dissolved. 
The  Whigs,  chastened  by  defeat  and  encouraged  by 
the  venomous  division  in  the  ranks  of  their  heredi 
tary  enemies,  put  forth  an  admirable  ticket.  This 
party  though  always  in  the  minority  in  California 

84 


CONFLICT 

embraced  a  number  of  the  most  reputable  and  con 
servative  citizens,  many  of  whom,  as  members  of 
the  Republican  party  rose  later  to  high  distinction 
in  the  counsels  of  the  state  and  nation.  But  the 
Democrats,  fortified  by  the  federal  power,  patron 
age  and  forty  years  of  national  administration  yet 
divided,  like  Corsicans  as  they  were,  still  conquered. 
The  anti-Broderick  candidates  alone  received  a 
larger  vote  than  the  Whigs.  The  Broderick  line 
was  badly  defeated,  but  with  his  usual  careful  and 
intelligent  combinations  Broderick,  to  whom  the 
legislature  was  all,  the  rest  nothing,  had  made  such 
conditions  and  exchanges  for  county  offices  with 
both  Whigs  and  any  or  all  other  adversaries,  that 
his  contingent  in  the  legislature  was  more  numerous 
than  the  average  vote  warranted. 

During  election  day  he  was  at  the  polls  in  one  of 
the  San  Francisco  districts.  Disputes  were  fre 
quent  and  the  feud  vigorous  and  vindictive  be 
tween  the  contending  Democrats.  Colonel  Balie 
Peyton  confronted  Broderick  and  a  violent  alterca 
tion  ensued  over  the  ballots.  Peyton  thrust  his 
hand  in  his  hip  pocket  and  the  handle  of  a  pistol 
appeared.  But  Broderick,  who  had  his  right  hand 
in  his  trousers'  pocket,  exclaimed  coldly  and  delib 
erately:  "Move,  Colonel  Peyton,  and  you  are  a 
dead  man. ' '  Peyton  then  knew  that  Broderick  had 
his  hand  on  a  derringer  which  carried  an  ounce 
bullet,  and  which  was  small  enough  to  be  fired  from 

85 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

his  pocket  without  drawing — a  most  deadly  weapon 
in  a  street  brawl.  Peyton  stood  motionless  until 
Broderick  said:  "There  is  no  need  for  us  to  kill 
each  other  or  to  have  a  personal  difficulty.  Let  us 
take  a  boat  on  the  bay  or  a  walk  under  the  trees 
and  talk  over  this  matter.  If  we  cannot  agree  then 
I  am  ready  to  fight  to  the  death  or  to  any  extent 
that  you  may  elect. ' '  Peyton  consented  and  a  few 
minutes'  conversation  apart  made  them  both  life 
long  friends. 

A  friend  complained  to  Broderick  of  turbulent 
characters  who  assisted  him  in  elections,  but  Brod 
erick  replied:  "You  respectable  people  I  ..cannot 
depend  on.  You  won't  go  down  and  face  the  re 
volvers  of  those  fellows  and  I  have  to  take  such 
material  as  I  can  get  hold  of.  They  stuff  ballot- 
boxes  and  steal  the  tally  lists  and  I  have  to  keep 
these  men  to  aid  me." 

On  another  occasion  Broderick  was  walking  one 
dark,  rainy  evening  in  a  street  when  a  person  com 
ing  up  behind  and  mistaking  him  for  a  friend, 
gave  him  a  gentle  push.  The  street  was  slippery, 
and  the  gentle  push  landed  Broderick  in  no  very 
gentle  manner  in  the  mud.  He  turned  angrily  and 
saw  one  of  his  most  inveterate  antagonists.  ' '  Oh ! " 
said  this  startled  personage,  "I-I-thought  it  was 
Benham."  "I  wish  to  heaven  it  was,"  grunted 
Broderick.  The  humor  of  it  appealed  to  both.  They 
laughed,  shook  hands  and  ever  after  entertained 
86 


CONFLICT 

personal  if  not  political  amity.  This  little  anec 
dote  is  trifling,  but  it  serves  to  illustrate  the  milder 
degree  of  his  character.  As  Plutarch  says,  "One's 
lighter  and  unstudied  actions  hold  a  clearer  mir 
ror  to  the  world." 

When  the  Solons  met  in  January,  1855,  it  was 
very  soon  ascertained  that  no  one  person  could 
command  a  majority  of  the  legislature  for  United 
States  senator.  The  strongest  was  Senator 
Gwin,  whose  term  matured  in  the  following  March ; 
but  his  forces  were  not  so  numerous  as  Broderick's 
at  the  previous  session  when  the  latter  lost  by  a 
single  vote. 

While  Broderick  and  Gwin  were  the  principal 
contestants  there  were  other  men  who  would  will 
ingly  wear  the  toga,  and  each  possessed  a  certain 
number  of  adherents  in  the  legislature.  ^ 

These  gentlemen  at  the  previous  session  were 
all  united  with  Gwin  against  Broderick.  Now  with 
the  utmost  sincerity  and  cynical  frankness  they 
united  with  Broderick  against  Gwin.  There  is 
nothing  better  than  modern  Republican  politics  to 
illustrate  the  independence,  as  well  as  the  selfish 
ness,  of  our  school.  After  all,  happiness  consists 
in  pleasing  one's  self;  in  pleasing  one's  self  one 
may  displease  others;  therefore,  happiness  is  sel 
fishness.  And  so  if  the  recalcitrants  were  vili 
pended  by  the  Gwin  advocates,  were  they  not  justi 
fied?  Winston  Churchill  relates  in  the  life  of  his 
87 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

father  that  Lord  Randolph,  after  assisting  the 
Irish  party,  in  the  exigencies  of  time  found  his 
friends  were  on  the  other  side.  So  he  said  to  Par- 
nell :  " I've  done,  as  you  know,  all  I  could  for  you. 
Now,  of  course,  I'll  do  all  I  can  against  you." 

This  legislative  coalition,  guided  by  the  clear 
brain  of  Broderick,  easily  foiled  all  the  efforts  of 
the  rest  of  the  Democrats  to  enter  a  caucus,  in 
which  the  decision  of  the  majority  would  be  bind 
ing.  The  Whigs,  who  were  less  numerous  than  the 
combined  Democrats,  were  quite  ready  to  do  noth 
ing  towards  the  election,  as  the  choice  could  not  fall 
upon  a  Whig,  and  so  the  session  vacuously  ended. 
Gwin's  seat  in  the  Senate  remained  untenanted,  and 
California  possessed  only  Weller  to  give  it  voice  in 
that  august  body.  During  this  session  of  the  Cali 
fornia  legislature  and  the  one  preceding,  Gwin  was 
absent  in  Washington.  Congress  sat  coincidently 
with  the  California  body,  and  it  was  not  then  con 
sidered  American  or  patriotic  for  a  senator  to  desert 
Congress  while  in  session,  to  go.Jiome  and  re-elect 
himself.  Distant  as  Washington  was  from  Sacra 
mento,  Gwin's  personal  management  of  his  cam 
paign  was  made  still  more  difficult.  Neither  tele 
graphs  nor  railways  existed  in  the  far  West,  and 
the  shortest  time  by  way  of  steamer  to  Panama, 
thence  by  rail  sixty  miles  to  Aspinwall,  and  thence 
by  steamer  to  New  York,  was  thirty  days. 

I  do  not  find,  in  a  close  study  of  this  period, 


CONFLICT 

that  any  special  antagonism  existed  between  Gwin 
and  Broderick.  The  latter  was  a  candidate  for 
the  senatorship,  resolute  and  immovable,  confront 
ing  the  world  in  his  determination  to  win.  All 
who  did  not  aid  his  upward  course  were  enemies, 
though  he  was  too  clever  a  statesman  to  refuse  or 
decline  tangible  assistance  from  any  source.  He 
was  always  ready  for  a  bargain,  and  in  the  political 
trades  of  the  day  he  was  seldom  worsted.  He  was 
by  far  more  successful  with  individuals  than  with 
the  public  at  large.  His  positive,  unyielding  per 
sonality  impressed  his  associates,  but  this  brusque- 
ness  did  not  augment  his  popularity  with  the 
people. 

Gwin  had  been  a  federal  official  in  Mississippi 
and  came,  like  others,  seeking  his  fortune. 

He  arrived  the  same  month  as  Broderick  and 
with  the  same  purpose;  to  return  as  United  States 
senator  from  California.  And,  as  a  singular  coin 
cidence,  before  leaving  Washington,  he  bade  fare 
well  to  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  saying :  "I  leave  for 
California  tomorrow.  It  will  become  a  state,  and 
I  shall  be  back  in  a  year  bearing  my  credentials  as 
United  States  senator."  And  he  was.  Broderick 
said  to  Sickles  what  Gwin  repeated  to  Douglas  a 
month  later.  The  one  from  the  North;  the  other 
from  the  South.  Both  fulfilled  their  prophecies 
and  the  career  of  each  was  equally  weird  and 
romantic. 

89 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

Of  stately  presence,  over  six  feet,  with  agree 
able  mien,  Gwin  possessed  the  courtly  manners  of 
a  Southern  gentleman.  Those  things  counted  for 
more  at  that  time  than  today.  Education,  family, 
personal  associations  and  surroundings  had  more 
weight  and  consideration.  Possibly  now  it  is  more 
the  man  himself ;  not  his  ancestors  nor  friends  nor 
religion,  but  himself.  Sons  of  senators  become  em 
ployees  in  department  stores,  and  railway  conduc 
tors,  sons  of  artisans  and  tradesmen  become 
senators. 

Gwin  was  chosen  a  San  Francisco  representa 
tive  to  the  body  that  framed  the  constitution  of 
the  state  at  Monterey  in  October,  1849,  and  the 
ensuing  legislature  selected  him  and  Fremont  as  the 
two  senators.  He  seems  to  have  been  easily  first 
and  obtained  the  coveted  distinction  without  envy 
or  rivalry.  By  allotment  his  term  expired  in 
March,  1855,  and  the  adjournment  of  the  legis 
lature  without  choosing  his  successor,  left  him  office- 
less.  During  these  several  years,  however,  he  had, 
with  great  diligence  and  industry,  filled  the  more 
important  federal  offices  in  the  state  with  his  per 
sonal  adherents  from  the  South. 

His  colleague  Weller,  chosen  to  succeed  Fremont 
in  1851,  had  not  an  equal  influence  or  ascendency 
in  Washington.  He  was  a  Northern  man  and  the 
Southern  element  controlled  the  government. 
Gwin's  personal  acquaintance  with  the  brilliant 

90 


CONFLICT 

galaxy  of  Southern  senators  ruling  in  Washington 
added  to  his  power  and  prestige.  But  he  did  not 
exercise  political  prudence  nor  wise  statesmanship. 
His  appointees,  to  a  man,  were  from  one  section. 
Postmasters,  port  collectors,  naval  officers,  apprais 
ers,  federal  attorneys  and  treasurers,  mint  em 
ployees,  revenue  officials,  lighthouse  keepers  and 
inspectors  were  all  from  the  happy  Southland.  The 
San  Francisco  Customs  was  called  the  '  *  Virginia 
Poor-House."  If  he  had  been  as  great  a  senator 
as  office  philanthrophist  his  renown  wrould  be  endur 
ing.  Senator  Jones  of  Nevada  used  to  say  that 
"for  one  friend  you  make  in  appointments  you 
create  five  enemies."  So  given  enough  appoint 
ments  and  one 's  enemies  will  surely  overwhelm  one. 

The  ideals  and  struggles  that  culminated  in  the 
Civil  War  were  only  latent  in  California  in  1855, 
but  still  the  complete  predominance  of  the  South 
ern  element  in  office  was  irksome  and  irritating  to 
many  of  the  Northerners,  and  to  none  so  much  as 
to  Broderick,  the  leading  aggressive,  enterprising 
Northerner. 

Gwin  had  also  fought  his  duel  in  recognition  of 
sanctified  precepts.  It  was  in  1853,  with  an  ex- 
inember  of  Congress,  McCorkle.  The  duellists 
fought,  armed  with  rifles.  They  stood  back  to  back 
forty  yards  from  each  other  and,  at  the  command 
of  one  of  the  seconds,  wheeled  and  fired.  After 
three  exchanges,  in  which  neither  one  was  hit, 

91 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

the  combat  ended.  McCorkle  was  little  and 
Gwin  big,  a  fact  that  caused  General  Harry 
Worthington  to  exclaim,  several  years  afterwards, 
when  requested  by  his  mentor,  Broderick,  to  vote, 
as  a  member  of  the  legislature,  for  McCorkle  for 
some  position:  "I'll  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  A 
man  who  couldn't  hit  old  Gwin  at  forty  yards  in 
three  shots  with  a  rifle  isn  't  fit  for  any  place  within 
the  gift  of  American  freemen."  Which  illustrates 
the  doubtful  amenities  that  come  with  the  years. 

In  July,  1855,  the  Democrats,  under  the  immi 
nent  pressure  of  danger,  came  together.  Through 
overtures  made  by  Broderick,  who  could  not  win 
with  his  slender  cohorts,  they  met,  harmonized  and 
nominated  candidates  for  the  autumn  elections. 

But  a  new  contestant  for  political  laurels 
appeared. 

Two  principal  political  organizations  existed  in 
the  state,  Democrats  and  Whigs,  the  former 
largely  outnumbering  the  latter.  In  fact,  the 
Whigs  had  never  gained  a  victory.  The  Know- 
Nothing,  or  American  Party  organization,  which 
was  born  in  a  day,  proclaimed  as  its  chief  tenet 
and  doctrine  rescission  of  voting  rights  from  for 
eigners.  It  demanded  that  no  naturalized  citizen 
should  hold  office,  and  it  impliedly  proscribed  the 
Koman  Catholic  religion  whose  devotees  were  large 
ly  Irish. 

It  began  in  the  New  England  states  and  appar- 
92 


CONFLICT 

ently  found  fruitful  soil  for  its  principles  in  Cali 
fornia.  The  new  party  swallowed  the  Whigs  at 
one  mouthful,  and  made  a  second  meal  of  many 
Democrats,  for  the  membership  must  come  from 
the  other  parties,  it  having  no  previous  exist 
ence.  Like  a  besom  or  a  pestilence,  or  a  fire  or  a 
sirocco,  it  swept  the  state  in  October,  electing  the 
entire  ticket,  including  the  governor  and  a  ma 
jority  of  the  legislature.  All  this,  notwithstanding 
that  their  ticket  was  not  advertised  in  the  press  or 
at  public  meetings  or  placarded  throughout  the 
country. 

Absolutely  no  public  announcement  of  the  Know- 
Nothing  candidates  was  made.  Even  on  election 
day  there  were  no  men  at  the  polling  precincts 
distributing  election  ballots  and  advocating  their 
choice,  as  was  customary  with  the  other  parties. 

The  candidates  and  proceedings  were  unknown 
as  the  doings  of  the  Druids.  Whilst  orators  de 
claimed  over  the  state,  of  the  benefit  to  the  common 
wealth  that  would  follow  the  adoption  of  the  ab 
stract  and  morbid  doctrines  the  Know-Nothing 
platform  demanded,  yet  not  one  avowed  his  can 
didacy.  It  was  like  asking  an  army  to  fight  with 
out  commanders. 

The  able  men  who  hitherto  directed  the  state's 
destinies  realized  that  an  organization  which  pro 
scribed  a  numerous  section  of  American  citizens 

93 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

and  yet  dared  not  avow  its  leadership  could  only 
be  ephemeral. 

Like  Eothschild  with  Napoleon,  they  gave  it 
only  a  hundred  days.  Both  friends  and  enemies 
of  Broderick  joined  the  exotic,  and  the  struggle 
between  them  continued  under  the  new  banner. 
When  the  session  of  1856  opened  the  Know-Noth 
ings  had  a  majority  and  might  therefore  elect  a 
senator.  But  this  majority  included  a  number  of 
former  Democrats  who  still  cherished  secret  devo 
tion  and  allegiance  to  the  old  party  that  had  gov 
erned  the  nation  so  wisely  these  many  years.  Few 
believed  in  the  permanency  of  the  new  dogmas. 
This  doubt  was  augmented  by  the  exposure  of 
large  and  numerous  defalcations  committed  by  sev 
eral  of  the  lately  chosen  state  officials.  It  was 
written  that  *  *  they  began  the  day  after  induction. ' ' 

The  conflict  of  1854  had  its  repetition.  The 
struggle  with  Broderick  then  was  to  induce  the 
Senate  and  Assembly  to  meet  in  joint  convention. 
It  was  carried  in  the  Assembly  and  only  lost  in 
the  Senate  by  one  vote,  the  one  vote  that  prevented 
him  from  mounting  the  throne  three  years  earlier 
than  he  did.  Now,  in  1856,  Broderick 's  purpose 
was  to  prevent  the  Know-Nothing  legislature  from 
assembling  in  joint  convention,  and  again  a  com 
fortable  majority  existed  in  the  Assembly  and  a 
minute  majority  in  the  Senate. 

His  deadly  Democratic  senatorial  opponents  in- 
94 


CONFLICT 

structed  all  their  legislative  friends  to  blindly 
obey  the  behests  of  Broderick,  and  then  quietly 
went  about  their  business.  They  knew  by  repeated 
experience  his  pre-eminent  ability  to  handle  con 
ventions  of  this  character.  And  again  I  must  add 
that  Gwin  was  not  his  only  rival  and  therefore  ally. 

Latham  and  McDougall  were  distinctly  recog 
nized  as  men  of  strength.  Both  had  been  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  both  had  served 
the  state  well  and  both  brooked  no  one's  patronage 
or  suzerainty.  After  Broderick 's  death  Latham 
became  governor  and  senator,  so  he  was  made  of 
winning  material.  In  the  end,  Broderick,  who  never 
left  Sacramento  for  one  single  day  or  night  dur 
ing  the  session,  triumphed,  and  the  legislature  ad 
journed  for  the  third  time  without  choosing  a  suc 
cessor  to  Gwin,  whose  seat  still  remained  cold. 

Judge  David  S.  Terry  who,  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  was  a  violent  opponent  of  Broderick  in  the 
Democratic  convention  of  the  preceding  year,  re 
nounced  his  early  beliefs  and  joined  the  Know- 
Nothings.  His  reward,  in  the  variegated  wave  that 
swept  them  on  the  sands  of  success,  was  election 
to  the  important  and  dignified  position  of  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  of  California. 
He  assumed  the  supreme  ermine  on  January  1, 
1856,  the  term  being  for  four  years. 


95 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE     COMMITTEE     OF     VIGILANCE 

The  law  of  nature,  the  primordial  law  which 
precedes  civil  law  and  civilization,  is  the  law  of 
self-preservation.  A  community  or  a  nation  at 
tacked  defends  itself.  Why  not  a  man  ?  And  if  it 
comes  to  killing,  why  not  kill  rather  than  be  killed  ? 
When  the  constituted  tribunals  of  a  land  fail  or 
neglect  to  fulfill  or  accomplish  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  created,  society  is  resolved  into  its 
first  elements  and  some  new  method  must  be 
adopted  to  preserve  its  existence. 

Opinions  may  vary  as  to  the  special  occasion, 
epoch  or  necessity  when  the  ordinary  processes 
of  justice,  when  formal  law  and  legal  courts  be 
come  incompetent  and  inoperative,  and  when  a 
community  is  warranted  in  adopting  novel  and 
extraordinary  measures  for  its  safety  and  the 
safety  of  its  units,  but  that  that  right  exists,  though 
dormant,  is  established  by  the  love  of  life  and  the 
right  to  live.  What  civilized  nation  exists  today 
that  did  not  commence  its  history  with  violence 
and  the  overthrow  of  settled  customs  and  ordi 
nances?  What  one  so  wise  and  sedate  as  to  be 
content  to  mark  time?  That  comes  with  age.  But 

90 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

youth  is  turbulent,  unruly  and  careless.  And  this 
abundant  and  abounding  youth  far  away  in  dis 
tant  California  chafed  under  ancient  fetters  and 
harked  back  to  the  savage  days,  when  men  like 
animals,  fought  and  slew  for  very  love  of  blood. 

A  promiscuous  habit  of  carrying  weapons  in 
creased  this  tendency.  When  D'Artagnan  and  his 
compeers  wore  swords  daily  combats  were  the  mode, 
and  the  Californian  with  revolver  at  the  belt, 
was  ever  prepared  with  a  quick  eye  and  ready 
finger. 

In  the  beginning  there  were  no  laws,  and  later 
those  chosen  as  legal  expounders  were  often  venal 
and  inefficient.  In  early  mining  camps  every  one 
except  the  gamblers  labored  more  or  less  diligently 
in  actually  excavating  for  gold,  and  seldom  was 
an  occurrence  so  grave  as  to  require  a  legal  tri 
bunal  and  advocates.  Some  elderly  personage  was 
usually  selected  as  alcalde,  a  species  of  governing 
official,  but  his  duties  were  not  onerous.  The  gam 
bler's  toil  began  with  eventide,  but  if  not  deemed 
an  honest  gamester,  for  it  seems  there  were  such, 
he  was  told  by  the  alcalde  to  leave,  and  he  went. 

Those  three  first  years  in  the  gold  regions,  from 
'48  to  '51,  were  Arcadian.  The  best,  most  capable 
and  most  intelligent  young  men  of  the  world 
labored  skilfully  and  patiently  in  the  building  of 
the  state;  but  in  San  Francisco,  the  heart  of  this 
western  world,  the  years  brought  changes  for  the 

97 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

worse.  The  British  had  established  a  penal  colony 
in  Australia,  to  which  they  sent  felons  from  home. 
In  time  the  sentences  of  many  convicts  terminated 
and  others  were  granted  tickets  of  leave.  It  was 
much  easier  and  shorter  to  sail  from  Botany  Bay 
to  San  Francisco  than  to  the  old  country,  and  then 
there  was  the  lure  of  gold.  These  gentry  descended 
on  the  town  like  vampires  and  found  congenial 
associates  in  various  members  of  the  Latin  race 
from  Mexico  and  South  America. 

Bobbery  and  assassination  prospered.  Arson 
was  aristocratic.  Several  of  the  large  fires  that 
devastated  the  city  during  this  epoch  were  ascribed 
to  incendiarism.  The  courts — well,  the  courts  and 
lawyers  helped  to  protect,  not  to  punish,  vice.  Be 
sides,  the  prison  was  insecure  and  inadequate,  and 
the  police  few  and  incapable.  These  misfortunes 
are  perhaps  unavoidable  in  new  communities,  where 
no  one  admits  a  master,  but  yet  is  so  only  with 
us  Americans.  It  was  not  thus  with  the  British, 
either  in  Australia  or  in  the  Klondike.  We  have 
the  same  laws,  but  with  us  the  tribunals  are 
superior  to  them;  with  the  British  the  tribunals 
obey  the  laws  and  do  not  override  them. 

The  citizens  of  San  Francisco,  foreseeing  anarchy 
and  pillage,  determined  on  a  very  grave  and  seri 
ous  innovation,  which  was,  to  supersede  the  imbecile 
courts,  execute  the  criminal  laws  themselves,  and 
practice  terrible  experiments  in  the  punishment  of 
98 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

assassins.  In  June,  1851,  a  certain  number  of  mer 
chants,  always  the  backbone  of  the  town,  banded 
together  and  evolved  an  organization  which  was 
called  The  Committee  of  Vigilance,  the  first,  I  be 
lieve,  ever  invoked  in  an  Anglo-Saxon  community  to 
protect  life  and  property  whilst  the  law  was  perish 
ing.  This  is  the  beginning  of  their  declaration: 

"Whereas,  it  has  become  apparent  to  the  citi 
zens  of  San  Francisco  that  there  is  no  security  for 
life  and  property,  either  under  the  regulations  of 
society,  as  it  at  present  exists,  or  under  the  law,  as 
now  administered; 

"Therefore,  the  citizens  whose  names  are  here 
unto  attached  do  unite  themselves  into  an  associa 
tion  for  the  maintenance  of  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  society  and  the  preservation  of  the  lives 
and  property  of  the  citizens  of  San  Francisco,  and 
do  bind  themselves,  each  unto  the  other,  to  do  and 
perform  every  lawful  act  for  the  maintenance  of 
law  and  order  and  to  sustain  the  laws  when  faith 
fully  and  properly  administered;  but  we  are  de 
termined  that  no  burglar,  incendiary  or  assassin 
shall  escape  punishment,  either  by  <the  quibbles  of 
the  law,  the  insecurity  of  prisons,  the  carelessness 
or  corruption  of  the  police,  or  laxity  of  those  who 
pretend  to  administer  justice.  And  to  secure  the 
objects  of  this  association  we  do  hereby  agree : 

"That  the  name  and  style  of  the  association 
shall  be  the  Committee  of  Vigilance,  for  the  pro- 

99 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

tection  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  citizens 
and  residents  of  the  City  of  San  Francisco. ' ' 

These  brave  words  somehow  recall  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence.  There  were  other  provisions 
providing  for  rooms,  organization,  equipment  and 
sustenance,  inviting  every  respectable  and  approved 
citizen  to  become  a  member,  and  finally  averring 
that  the  action  of  a  majority  of  the  committee 
should  be  binding  upon  all,  and  pledging  unquali 
fied  support  to  the  committee  "at  the  hazard  of 
their  lives  and  fortunes. ' '  Within  a  week  a  ' '  Syd 
ney  Cove"  was  captured  in  the  commission  of  a 
felony. 

He  was  tried  in  the  rooms  of  the  committee  by  a 
jury  and  judge  fashioned  from  their  own  member 
ship.  He  was  allowed  an  attorney,  the  right  to 
testify  and  to  call  witnesses.  The  jury. of  sixty 
found  him  guilty,  sentenced  him  to  death,  and  he 
was  hanged  two  hours  later  on  the  plaza,  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  town. 

A  month  afterward  they  hanged  another  ex- 
convict  from  Australia  who  had  committed  and 
confessed  to  many  murders.  He  was  executed  at 
the  foot  of  Market  street  on  the  stroke  of  twelve, 
the  Vigilantes  forming  an  armed  escort  of  a 
thousand  stern  and  just  judges.  In  August  two 
more  malefactors,  who  had  confessed,  were  sus 
pended  by  the  neck  at  the  corner  of  Battery  and 
Bush  streets,  in  full  view  of  thousands,  whose 
100 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

somber  silence  and  fixed,  resolute  mien  during  the 
deliberate  preparations  for  the  execution  appalled 
an  English  wanderer.  He  said  they  did  not  seem 
like  men,  but  judges  sent  by  Osiris  from  the  nether 
world,  so  stern  and  implacable  was  their  expression. 

Thus  four  were  put  to  death,  but  only  for  crimes 
committed  after  the  committee 's  organization.  They 
let  the  law  deal,  if  it  would,  with  the  many  untried  j 
criminals  in  the  jails  before  their  appearance,  but 
they  were  unyielding  in  punishing,  if  they  could 
not  prevent  the  commission  of  crimes  during  their 
existence. 

The  municipal  officials  did  nothing;  they  were 
helpless,  and  no  one  either  pitied  or  trusted  them, 
for  justice  never  cleansed  their  venal  hands. 

In  August,  before  the  last  hangings,  the  gov 
ernor  of  the  state  issued  a  proclamation  asking  all 
good  citizens  to  sustain  public  law  and  tranquillity, 
aid  public  officers  in  discharge  of  their  duty  and  to 
discontinue  any  attempt  to  substitute  the  despotic 
control  of  a  self -constituted  association,  unknown, 
and  acting  in  defiance  of  the  laws,  in  place  of  the 
regularly  organized  government  of  the  country. 

To  this  the  Vigilantes  replied:  "We,  the  under 
signed,  do  hereby  aver  that  the  present  Governor 
McDougall  asked  to  be  introduced  to  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Committee  of  Vigilance,  which 
was  allowed  and  an  hour  fixed.  The  governor,  upon 
being  introduced,  stated  that  he  approved  the  acts 
101 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

of  the  committee,  and  that  much  good  had  taken 
place.  He  hoped  that  they  would  go  on  and  en 
deavor  to  act  in  concert  with  the  authorities,  and 
in  case  any  judges  were  guilty  of  mal-administra- 
tion  to  hang  them  and  he  would  appoint  others." 
There  was  a  governor ! 

Hang  the  judges!  But  that  millenium  has  not 
even  yet  arrived.  His  proclamation  was  necessary, 
as  head  of  the  state,  but  there  was  no  question  of  his 
sympathies  and  convictions  as  a  citizen  of  the  com 
monwealth.  Their  work  was  done.  Not  a  killing, 
save  those  for  which  they  hanged  the  killers,  had 
occurred  in  three  months  in  the  city. 

Many  rascals  had  fled  the  town,  some  leaving  the 
state  and  some  going  into  the  interior.  There  was 
less  arson,  less  robbery  and  gambling.  People  dared 
to  walk  the  streets  at  night. 

The  officers  awoke  from  their  lethargy.  Justice 
was  no  longer  blind  or  leaden-heeled.  Trade  in 
creased  and  new  edifices  multiplied. 

The  Vigilance  Committee  of  1851  ceased  to  act, 
but  the  association  never  formally  dissolved.  The 
membership  roster  was  retained  and  the  officers 
guarded  their  designations.  Like  the  sleeping 
Swiss,  they  awaited  the  next  call  to  arms,  which 
came  five  years  later.  For,  though  the  action  of  the 
Vigilantes  rendered  criminals  less  popular  for  a 
period,  the  old  conditions  began  presently  to  recur. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  decade  serious  doubts 
102 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

as  to  the  permanency  of  the  gold  deposits  existed. 
In  1854  a  marked  diminution  of  the  product  oc 
curred,  and  properties  of  all  descriptions  declined 
excessively  in  value.  It  was  not  until  the  next 
year,  when  new,  rich  and  large  placers  in  Shasta 
and  Siskiyou  counties  were  unearthed  that  the  bird, 
Confidence,  returned. 

Miners,  especially,  were  like  Arabs,  roving  from 
gorge  to  gorge,  seeking  more  lucrative  deposits.  Few 
claims  lasted  more  than  a  year  at  best,  and  then 
the  search  for  others  continued.  The  alluvial  soils 
containing  gold  were  quickly  exhausted.  The  era 
of  quartz  mines  and  mills  had  not  yet  commenced. 
Hence  their  relative  permanency  was  unknown. 

People  wandered,  therefore,  from  one  camp  to 
another,  giving  rise  to  a  turbulent  and  fluctuating 
population.  Possessed  of  no  interest  in  the  soil, 
and  very  often  penniless,  with  a  distant  memory  of 
moral  restraint  and  little  dread  of  the  weak  forces 
of  authority,  they  were  exposed  to  strong  tempta 
tion.  After  the  Thirty  Years'  War  a  large  pro 
portion  of  the  disbanded  soldiery  became  bandits. 
There  was  no  other  similar  occupation. 

To  California  in  the  early  years  came  the  cream 
of  the  world,  but  it  was  followed  by  the  dregs  of 
the  world.  Men  whose  careers  were  ended  at  home, 
whose  names  spelled  vice  and  debauchery ;  who  had 
run  the  race  and  were  marked  and  known  in  the 
eastern  states ;  in  a  word,  those  whose  records  were 
103 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

not  clean  and  whose  hopes  were  ended,  came  to  this 
alluring  land  on  the  western  sea  to  forget  and  to 
live  anew.  The  newcomer  was  never  asked  his  name 
and  address.  He  told  what  he  pleased  and  it  was 
accepted.  Men  have  lived  in  partnership  for 
months,  digging  the  same  mine,  living  in  the  same 
cabin,  sleeping  in  the  same  cot  and  finally  separ 
ated  without  one  knowing  either  the  true  name  or 
antecedents  of  the  other.  It  was  the  way  of  the 
mines  and  pleasant,  genial,  faithful  comradeship 
for  the  time.  If  they  met  again  why  well  and 
good,  if  not,  the  parting  had  been  agreeable. 

There  was  another  picture  in  the  state  gallery. 
The  Saturday  night  and  Sunday  wassail.  Gamblers 
had  become  an  integral  portion  of  every  prosperous 
mining  hamlet.  With  their  shaven  faces,  white 
linen  and  expensive  jewelry  they  stood  out  from 
the  honest  worker  as  a  wolf  among  honest  dogs. 
Games  of  many  varieties  with  cards  flourished,  and 
the  gamekeeper  was  an  expert;  otherwise  he  failed 
at  his  trade.  All  labor  in  the  mines  ceased  from 
Saturday  afternoon  to  Monday  morning,  and  the 
gold  that  had  been  mined  during  the  week  was  taken 
on  Saturday  to  the  little  town.  Armed  with  this 
universal  weapon  which  he  had  gathered  from  a 
week 's  grinding,  laborious  toil  in  water  and  mud  at 
the  bottom  of  dangerous  shafts  the  happy,  careless, 
reckless  miner  would  meet  the  professional  and 
play.  Drinking,  cursing,  gambling,  kniving,  shoot- 
104 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

ing,  all  follow  in  normal  sequence.  Sometimes  it  is 
the  gambler,  more  often  the  miner,  for  the  former 
never  drinks  on  duty  and  is  as  ready  with  the  re 
volver  as  with  the  cards.  Like  the  Egyptians  who 
buried  their  dead  in  ground  useless  for  any  other 
purpose,  the  miners  always  devoted  Sundays  to  in 
quests.  If  it  was  the  gambler  it  was  "justifiable 
self-defense."  The  coroner  took  charge  of  his 
effects,  sold  the  card  paraphernalia  and  retained 
the  whole  for  fees  and  funeral  expenses.  If  it  was 
the  miner  the  gambler  was  sometimes  ordered  out 
of  town  and  sometimes  he  was  hanged.  It  de 
pended  upon  the  mood  of  the  miners  and  the 
standing  of  the  dead  man.  What  of  the 
courts  and  lawyers?  The  judges  and  satellites 
would  be  in  session  at  the  county  seat  and  the 
miners  saved  them  exertion  and  the  county  expense. 
The  gambler  would  repair  to  another  camp,  but 
killing  is  not  a  vocation  to  be  commended,  for  one 
knows  and  remembers.  He  would  be  shunned,  few 
would  pay  tribute  to  his  talents,  and  he  well  knew 
that  in  an  affray  he  would  be  given  no  chance  unless 
he  shot  first. 

Yet  he  must  live  and  he  would  not  work.  So  he 
took  to  robbing  cabins,  sluice-boxes  and  stage 
coaches.  The  last  was  the  boldest,  most  dangerous 
and  chivalrous  occupation  of  all  and  commanded 
everyone's  admiration  except  that  of  the  passen 
gers.  For  one  man  to  stop  a  four-horse  coach 
105 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

in  the  open,  rob  the  dozen  travelers — most  of 
whom  had  revolvers  in  their  belts,  whilst  the  rob 
ber  carried  his  revolver  in  his  hand — equalled 
the  exploits  of  England's  most  doughty  highway 
men. 

Throughout  the  gold  fields  the  Vigilance  Com 
mittee  of  San  Francisco  of  1851  had  follow 
ers  and  exemplars.  Lynch  law  prevailed,  but  the 
culprit  was  always  tried  patiently  and  equitably, 
and  was  hanged  only  when  the  twelve  jurymen, 
under  oath,  as  in  the  rounded  legal  chamber,  so 
decided  and  agreed. 

These  men  said:  " After  all,  what  difference 
exists  between  the  first  trial  by  jury  and  the  lynch 
execution  among  a  colony  of  men  living  far  from 
civilization?  Was  the  peace  of  a  community  of 
honest  men  to  be  disturbed  by  unpunished  crime 
and  bloodshed,  when,  from  circumstances,  the  law  of 
their  country  was  unable  to  protect  them  ? ' '  These 
and  similar  questions  formed  the  basis  of  the  argu 
ment  in  defense  of  lynch  law  in  the  mountains. 
And  it  must  be  added  that  the  fear  as  well  as  the 
reality  of  lynch  law  was  beneficial.  In  several 
localities  public  indignation  was  confined  to  order 
ing  unsavory  characters  to  leave  camp  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  the  command  was  rarely  disobeyed. 
Driven  with  ignominy  from  the  mountains  and  val 
leys  a  proportion  of  these  wastrels  drifted  to  the 
metropolis,  wicked  with  vile  and  vicious  thoughts, 
106 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

engendered  by  their  expulsion.  They  joined  the 
city  bands  of  ruffians  and  marauders,  and  little 
by  little  the  old  horrors  of  violence,  arson,  robberies 
and  murders  recommenced.  Every  morning  there 
was  * '  a  man  for  breakfast. ' ' 

The  old  delays,  the  old  tribunals ;  perjury,  quib 
bles  and  technical  errors ;  corrupt  and  dense  prose 
cutors;  ignorance  and  venality  leading  the  jury; 
misunderstood  and  misapplied  laws ;  life  itself,  and 
freedom  again  to  continue  the  course  of  rapine  and 
murder  were  once  more  the  privileges  of  the  de 
lighted  criminal. 

On  November  18,  1855,  occurred  the  Cora-Rich 
ardson  affair.  One  must  be  careful  of  the  dates  in 
describing  these  tragedies,  like  those  that  marked 
the  French  Revolution.  Napoleon  always  said  that 
the  eighteenth  Brumaire  was  one  of  the  most  poten 
tial  days  in  his  career.  Cora  and  Richardson 
met  by  hazard  in  a  saloon.  They  were  mutally 
presented  and  drank  several  times  together,  finally 
separating  after  a  quarrel,  in  which  neither  was 
blameless,  as  is  usual  when  Bacchus  intervenes. 
The  following  day  they  again  encountered  one  an 
other  in  the  same  place;  another  dispute  ensued; 
they  went  outside,  scuffled,  and  Cora  shot  Richard 
son  through  the  heart.  The  coroner's  jury — impan 
eled  the  next  day — in  session  over  the  dead  body,  in 
the  presence  of  which  they  examined  Cora  and 
other  witnesses,  reported  unanimously  that  Rich- 
107 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

ardson  ' '  was  deprived  of  his  life  by  Cora,  and  from 
the  facts  produced,  the  jury  believe  that  the  said 
act  was  premeditated  and  that  there  was  nothing 
to  mitigate  the  same."  Every  juror  signed  this 
report. 

General  Richardson  was  a  distinguished  citizen 
of  the  state.  Coming  to  California  in  the  '49 
hegira  he  had  resided  there  continuously;  always 
active  in  public  affairs;  was  esteemed  and  re 
garded.  When  killed  he  was  United  States  mar 
shal,  a  promotion  awarded  only  to  the  best. 

Charles  Cora,  an  Italian,  was  a  professional 
gambler  and  consorted  openly  with  the  keeper  of 
a  bagnio.  The  two  men  were  antithetical  in  career 
and  character.  They  represented  two  diverse 
classes  in  the  city,  the  man  and  the  man-killer. 
The  crime  loomed  large  amid  the  conventional  mur 
ders  and  the  whole  town  was  amazed  and  terrified. 

The  trial  took  place  two  months  later.  Because 
of  the  tense  and  continued  excitement  the  usual 
interminable  delays  were  abridged.  Cora  was  sur 
rounded  by  the  most  brilliant  array  of  counsel  that 
money  could  hire.  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker  was  one 
of  them.  This  same  Baker,  who  afterward  pro 
nounced  the  classic  discourse  over  the  slain  Brod- 
erick,  became  senator  from  Oregon  and  died  facing 
the  foe  while  leading  his  men  in  a  thrilling  charge, 
full  against  the  enemy,  at  Ball's  Bluff!  And  yet 
108 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

this  same  Baker  defended  Cora,  the  pander,  the 
gambler,  the  deliberate  murderer ! 

What  will  not  lawyers  do  for  money?  There 
was  a  veiled,  floating  legend  that  Baker  at  first 
accepted  a  generous  fee  from  the  woman,  and  that, 
shortly  afterward,  recognizing  the  universal  pub 
lic  attention  concentrated  on  the  case  and  the  oblo 
quy  he  might  encounter,  he  endeavored  to  with 
draw,  but  she  refused  to  take  back  the  money  and 
he  was  compelled  to  continue.  There  was  another 
saying  prevalent  at  the  same  time  that  a  San  Fran 
cisco  advocate  stopped  at  nothing  to  save  his  crim 
inal  client  except  committing  the  same  crime. 

The  jury  disagreed  after  forty-one  hours'  con 
finement  and  was  dismissed.  These  are  the  com 
ments  of  a  city  journal  on  the  day  following: 

''Men  were  placed  upon  that  jury  who  should 
never  have  been  there.  They  went  upon  it  in  order 
to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice,  in  other  words,  to  'tie' 
the  jury.  This  they  effectually  did.  It  is  not 
pleasant  for  us  to  comment  upon  the  depravity 
which  has  been  brought  to  light  in  the  trial.  It  is 
not  very  agreeable  to  state  that  the  conviction  is 
almost  universal,  that  crime  cannot  be  punished  in 
San  Francisco. 

"But  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  duty  which  we  owe 

to  the  public  community,  as  journalists,  to  put  the 

people  upon  their  guard.    It  is  well  for  every  man 

to  understand  that  life  here  is  to  be  protected  at 

109 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

the  muzzle  of  the  pistol.  The  best  man  in  San 
Francisco  may  be  shot  down  tomorrow  by  some  ruf 
fian  who  does  not  like  what  he  has  said  or  done; 
yet  the  chances  are  an  hundred  to  one  that  that  ruf 
fian  will  escape  punishment.  He  may  go  through 
the  farce  of  a  trial,  but  nothing  more.  Now,  what 
is  to  be  the  end  of  this  ?  Crime  will  become  so  fre 
quent  that  it  cannot  be  longer  endured.  Then  will 
come  lynch  law,  then  men  even  suspected  of  crime 
will  be  hung ;  for  people  cannot  long  live  as  things 
are  now  running.  No  man's  life  is  safe,  in  our 
opinion,  for  a  single  moment." 

This  publication,  four  months  preceding  the 
birth  of  the  1856  Vigilance  Committee,  evidences 
clearly  the  trend  of  public  opinion.  It  was  not 
sudden  nor  spasmodic.  It  was  coming,  deadly  and 
terrible,  if  crime  continued.  What  people  thought 
in  the  East  may  be  perused  in  this  excerpt  from  a 
New  York  periodical  of  January,  1856 : 

"Assassinations,  murders  and  hangings  consti 
tute  the  leading  materials  of  the  budget  of  news  in 
San  Francisco.  First,  we  are  told  that  General 
W.  H.  Richardson,  United  States  marshal  for  the 
Northern  District  of  California,  was  basely  assassi 
nated  in  the  streets  of  San  Francisco  on  the  even 
ing  of  November  19  by  a  desperado  named  Charles 
Cora.  Then,  that  Hon.  Isaac  B.  Wall,  collector  of 
the  port  of  Monterey,  and  T.  S.  Williamson,  an 
officer  of  the  county  of  Monterey,  were  murdered 
110 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

on  the  10th  inst.  Then  we  have  duels  and  robbery 
cases  innumerable.  The  papers  devote  large  space 
to  the  particulars  of  these  horrors,  showing  a  state 
of  things,  especially  in  San  Francisco,  which  car 
ries  one  back  to  the  days  of  vigilance.  The  provo 
cation  to  hang  the  murderer  of  General  Richard 
son  was  very  strong,  but  the  good  sense  of  the 
better  portion  of  the  people  overcame  the  passion 
of  the  moment  and  induced  them  to  await  the 
proper  judicial  tribunal.  It  is  surprising  to  see 
in  what  a  matter-of-fact,  business-like  way  the  Cali 
fornia  editors  post  the  books  of  their  criminal  cal 
endar.  Here,  for  instance,  is  a  recapitulation  of 
the  statistics  of  killings  and  hangings  from  the  1st 
of  January  last  to  date : 

1st        2nd        3rd 
Quar.     Quar.     Quar.     Oct.  Total 

Total  killed 120        99        208        62        489 

Hung  by  sheriff.  .2  226 

Hung  by  mob 8         14          18  6          46 

"Horrible!  Horrible!  Total  killed  in  only  ten 
months,  489;  hung  52.  Kentucky  must  give  up 
the  name  of  the  'dark  and  bloody  ground' — which 
is  simply  a  traditional  Indian  nomenclature — 
while  here  is  ghastly  reality  in  California. ' ' 

The  New  York  scribe  might  have  added  that  for 
the  489  murdered  men  the  sacred  law  had  only 
punished  six  of  the  489  assassins ! 

It  is  true  the  miners  were  industrious.    They  did 
111 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

fairly  well,  hanging  forty-six  wretches;  but  they 
could  not  do  everything. 

And  so  the  scroll  remained.  After  the  mis 
trial  of  Cora  he  was  committed  to  prison.  It  was 
thought  best  by  those  who  aided  him  to  let  several 
months  expire  before  agitating  for  a  second  trial. 
They  counted  on  the  proverbial  forgetfulness  by 
the  many  of  that  which  concerns  the  many.  Ob 
livion  companions  time.  Nevertheless,  the  fashion- 
ableness  of  crime  had  somewhat  abated.  The 
slaughter  of  Richardson  had  evoked  such  openly 
expressed  exclamations  of  fierce  resentment  that 
scoundrels  were  cowed.  But  this  resentment  was 
restrained  by  the  deep  feeling  of  regard  and  respect 
for  the  laws  and  welfare  of  the  city,  by  men  who 
hesitated  to  usurp  the  functions  of  justice  and 
who  quietly  waited. 

James  King  of  William,  a  Virginian,  was  one 
of  the  early  pioneers,  and  joined  the  Vigilantes  of 
1851,  already  portrayed.  Like  others  who  came 
to  seek  fortune,  he  had  engaged  in  different  occu 
pations,  including  banking. 

The  bank  of  which  he  was  manager  failed  and 
he  was  directly  censured.  But  that  was  a  misfor 
tune  and  not  a  crime.  Possessed  of  some  literary 
acumen  and  a  disdain  and  contempt  for  those  who 
disturbed  the  city's  reputation  and  tranquillity,  he 
thought  that  an  honest  newspaper  might  exist. 

With  slender  resources,  obtained  from  friends, 
112 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

he  established  the  Evening  Bulletin,  which  still 
flourishes,  without  change  of  appellation.  His 
sharp,  sarcastic  paragraphs,  clarity  of  statement, 
and  the  vigor  and  vehemence  with  which  he  daily 
assailed  public  wrongs  and  their  perpetrators  made 
both  editor  and  journal  marked  and  distinct  above 
others.  Included  in  these  others  was  a  weekly 
paper  owned  and  published  by  James  P.  Casey. 
These  two  men  represented  the  two  moral  and  polit 
ical  extremes. 

On  a  Sunday  Casey's  journal  printed  an  article 
from  an  anonymous  contributor.  The  article  related 
that  King's  brother  had  vainly  sought  a  fed 
eral  office,  the  one,  in  fact,  held  by  General  Richard 
son  at  his  death,  and  that  he  had  been  ignominiously 
repulsed.  Meanwhile,  King  was  daily  attacking 
the  federal  brigade  and  asserting  their  active  or 
silent  co-operation  with  the  blackguards  of  the  city. 

King's  brother  went  to  Casey's  office,  denied  the 
statement  and  demanded  the  author's  name.  Casey 
refused,  truculently  adding  that  he  held  himself 
responsible.  A  day  or  two  later  Casey  heard  that 
James  King  had  ascertained  some  unpleasant  de 
tails  of  his  career  and  contemplated  publishing 
them.  He  repaired  to  the  Bulletin  office  and  re 
monstrated  with  King,  but  the  latter  give  him  slight 
recognition.  The  same  evening  the  Bulletin  con 
tained  a  statement,  from  which  the  annexed  is  an 
extract. 

113 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

' '  The  fact  that  Casey  has  been  an  inmate  of  Sing 
Sing  prison  in  New  York  is  no  offense  against  the 
laws  in  this  state;  nor  is  the  fact  of  his  having 
stuffed  himself  through  the  ballot-box,  as  elected  to 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  from  a  district  where  it 
is  said  he  was  not  even  a  candidate,  any  justifica 
tion  why  Mr.  Bagley  should  shoot  Casey;  however 
richly  the  latter  may  deserve  having  his  neck 
stretched  for  such  fraud  on  the  people."  Strong 
provocation  surely;  but  hardly  a  killing  matter, 
when  it  was  true !  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  with 
them  as  well  as  after  them. 

Casey  after  reading  the  paper  lurked  in  the 
vicinity  of  King's  office  until  the  latter  departed 
for  home.  Casey  suddenly  confronted  King  on  the 
street  near  by  and  shot  him.  The  latter  sank  to  the 
ground  mortally  wounded. 

Casey  was  arrested  and  incarcerated.  It  was  five 
in  the  afternoon,  when  the  thoroughfares  were 
crowded,  and  the  appalling  intelligence  was  direct 
ly  known. 

The  similarity  both  in  characters  and  circum 
stances  raised  the  cries:  " Another  Cora  and 
Richardson  affair,"  "More  hung  juries  and  less 
hung  men,"  "He  will  get  clear  if  the  officers  keep 
him." 

With  one  brain  and  action,  as  if  in  telepathic  con 
cert,  maddened  men  ran  to  the  city  prison ;  but  the 
heavy  outside  iron  doors  leading  to  the  halls  were 
114 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

closed  and  locked,  and  the  inner  station  was  guard 
ed  and  barricaded.  King  was  too  severely  hurt 
to  be  transferred  to  his  residence.  He  was  ten 
derly  raised,  carefully  placed  on  a  cot,  hurried 
to  the  nearest  office,  and  in  thirty  minutes  five 
of  the  best  physicians  in  town  were  at  the  bedside, 
fighting  death.  Around  the  building  where  he 
rested  thronged  a  sorrowing  multitude  whose  sym 
pathy  was  soon  changed  to  violent  frenzy  when  the 
medical  men  stated  the  gravity  of  the  wound,  while 
cries  of :  ' '  Let  us  organize  and  hang  him !  hang  all 
the  gamblers!"  terrified  the  air.  Darkness  came 
and  the  authorities,  fearing  a  night  attack  on  the 
city  prison,  planned  to  remove  Casey  to  the  stronger 
county  jail  on  Broadway.  A  carriage  was  osten 
tatiously  brought  to  the  main  entrance,  and  while 
the  populace  watched  and  waited,  he  was  quietly 
removed  by  a  side  door,  pushed  into  a  conveyance, 
a  pistol  thrust  into  either  hand  and,  drawn  by 
speedy  and  strong  horses,  dashing  up  the  steep 
incline,  the  prisoner  was  made  safe  in  his  new 
cell  before  the  manoeuvre  could  be  detected  and 
thwarted.  Ten  thousand  desperate  men  surged 
arid  seethed  all  night  around  the  solid  prison  walls 
like  storm-tossed  waves  dashing  on  an  island  light 
house.  The  policemen,  aided  by  two  city  troops  hast 
ily  summoned  from  their  quarters,  mustered  a  force 
of  three  hundred,  who  kept  guard  in  the  jail  and 
patrolled  the  walls.  A  woman  hard  by  was  asked 
115 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

to  provide  food  for  them,  but  she  hotly  refused 
and  not  one  of  the  neighboring  residents  would 
furnish  shelter  or  coffee  to  the  defenders  of  "law 
and  order." 

It  was  a  fearful  night  and  there  might  have  been 
a  massacre  had  the  fates  so  willed.  Every  building 
in  the  vicinity  was  alive  with  humanity,  and  the 
thrilling  and  exciting  scenes  exceeded  any  occur 
rence  during  the  old  Vigilance  Committee  era. 
The  mayor  endeavored  to  address  the  people  from 
the  jail  steps,  saying:  "Let  the  law  have  its  course 
and  justice  will  be  done."  But  they  replied: 
"Look  at  the  case  of  poor  Richardson.  How  is 
it  in  his  case?  Where  is  Cora  now?  Down  on 
such  justice.  Let  us  hang  him!"  Unable  to 
secure  a  hearing  he  retired.  Cora  must  have  heard 
these  fearful  demands  from  his  cell  near  by,  which 
he  had  restlessly  trodden  for  six  months.  The  ru 
mor  that  King's  condition  was  somewhat  alleviated 
and  that  the  doctors  were  more  hopeful,  tranquil 
lized  the  impatient  mass  and  the  night  closed  in 
quiet,  waiting  for  the  day. 


116 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    COMMITTEE    OF    VIGILANCE CONTINUED 

The  next  morning  a  call  appeared  in  the  press 
for  a  meeting  of  citizens  at  lOS1/^  Sacramento 
street,  in  the  quarters  lately  occupied  by  the 
Native  American  party.  During  the  day  a  thou 
sand  men  signed  the  roster  of  the  committee  and 
sanctioned  the  adoption  of  a  constitution.  This 
document  was  a  repetition  of  the  one  under  which 
the  Vigilantes  of  five  years  earlier  acted. 

It  embraced  several  additional  provisions  to  pro 
vide  for  the  present  emergencies.  For  example: 
"that  the  action  of  this  body  shall  be  entirely  and 
vigorously  free  from  all  consideration  of  or  parti 
cipation  in  the  merits  or  demerits,  or  opinions,  or 
acts  of  any  and  all  sects,  political  parties  or  section 
al  divisions  in  this  community;  and  every  class  of 
orderly  citizens,  of  whatever  sect,  party  or  nativity, 
may  become  members  of  this  body.  No  discussion 
of  political,  sectional  or  sectarian  subjects  shall  be 
allowed  in  the  rooms  of  the  association.  That  no 
person  accused  before  this  body  shall  be  punished 
until  after  fair  and  impartial  trial  and  conviction. 
No  vote  inflicting  the  death  penalty  shall  be  binding 
117 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

unless  passed  by  two  thirds  of  those  present  and 
entitled  to  vote." 

This  thousand  embraced  the  principal  merchants 
and  professional  men,  those  best  known  for  charac 
ter,  influence  and  standing. 

The  two  city  troops  that  had  protected  the  jail  the 
night  previous,  promptly  sent  their  resignations  to 
the  governor,  stacked  their  arms  in  the  armory, 
disbanded,  and  then  the  major  portion  proceeded 
to  the  Vigilante  headquarters  and  appended  their 
signatures  to  the  membership  list.  Mass  meetings 
assembled  at  Sacramento,  Nevada,  Placerville,  Fol- 
som  and  Marysville  denouncing  the  shooting  of 
King,  approving  the  organization  and  purposes 
of  the  committee  and  offering  armed  assistance  if 
requested.  The  following  from  the  Marysville 
meeting  indicates  the  universal  expression : 

' '  That  we  recognize  in  James  King,  editor  of  the 
Bulletin,  the  sincere  and  earnest  friend  of  the 
poor;  the  bold  and  fearless  exposer  of  vice,  crime 
and  corruption ;  the  independent  and  uncompromis 
ing  opponent  of  official  villians  and  swindlers,  and 
the  best  and  most  faithful  exponent  our  State  has 
afforded  of  that  sentiment  which  prevails  every 
where  among  the  masses  of  the  people. ' ' 

Thousands  of  miners  ceased  their  labors,  belted 

their  revolvers,  shouldered  their  rifles  and  hastened 

to  the  city.     There  was  an  immediate  cessation  of 

business  and  traffic ;  the  dense  masses  in  the  streets 

118 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

awaiting  with  intense  interest  the  bulletins  of  the 
doctors.  Mr.  King  lingered  several  days,  and  mean 
while  the  swelling  numbers  of  the  committee;  the 
purchase  by  their  representatives  of  every  weapon 
in  the  gun  shops;  the  seizure  of  those  in  the  ar 
mories,  including  two  pieces  of  ordnance  with 
abundant  ammunition,  and  the  constant  drilling  in 
companies  of  a  hundred  men  each  day  and  night, 
evidenced  the  resolute  firmness,  admirable  plan 
ning  and  cool  foresight  of  the  leaders.  Governor 
Johnson  came  down  from  Sacramento  and  held 
a  conference  with  the  executive  committee.  By 
his  instructions  the  sheriff  who  kept  the  prison 
allowed  a  small  body  of  Vigilantes  to  camp  within 
the  walls.  The  committee  was  resolved  that  Casey 
should  not  be  spirited  away.  The  sheriff,  through 
his  deputies,  served  a  document  on  citizens  he  en 
countered  in  the  streets  commanding  them  to  ap 
pear  at  the  jail,  prepared  to  serve  under  his  au 
thority. 

One  hundred  were  summoned ;  but  fifty  respond 
ed,  of  whom  the  moiety  were  legal  advocates.  King 
was  of  strong  and  buoyant  physique;  he  fought 
hard.  On  Saturday  night  his  condition  was  worse. 
The  Vigilantes  had  been  directed  to  assemble  on 
the  ringing  of  the  Monumental  Fire  Engine  Com 
pany's  bell.  The  fateful  bell  rang  out  slowly  and 
distinctly  at  nine  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning.  It 
seemed  not  unexpected.  People  were  waiting, 
119 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

ready  and  strained  to  the  work.  Moving  throngs 
hurried  to  the  Sacramento  street  quarters,  where 
they  were  assigned  arms.  Already  they  knew  the 
military  duties.  At  midday  an  army  of  twenty- 
six  hundred  men,  cavalry,  infantry  and  artillery, 
armed  and  equipped  in  strict  martial  array,  pro 
ceeded  in  regular  marching  order  to  the  prison 
which  they  completely  surrounded. 

Placing  two  cannon  in  front  of  the  gates,  these 
were  deliberately  loaded  with  ball  and  powder  in 
full  view  of  the  inmates.  Then  Mr.  W.  T.  Cole- 
man,  the  president  of  the  organization,  with  three 
other  members,  advanced  to  the  doors,  requested 
audience  of  the  sheriff  and  demanded  of  him  the 
custody  of  Cora  and  Casey.  As  the  imposing  force 
wound  up  the  hill  to  the  prison  portals  the  sheriff 
went  to  the  cell  of  Casey  and  said:  "There  are 
two  thousand  armed  men  coming  for  you  and  I 
have  not  thirty  men  about  the  jail."  Casey  re 
plied  :  ' '  Then  do  not  peril  your  life  and  that  of 
the  officers  in  defending  me ;  I  will  go  with  them. ' ' 

When  Coleman  and  his  associates  came  to  his 
cell,  Casey  asked  for  a  fair  trial  and  protection  in 
leaving.  He  was  apprehensive  of  being  hanged 
forthwith.  Both  were  assured  and  Casey  came 
out,  was  placed  in  a  carriage  and  taken  to  rooms 
prepared  for  him  at  headquarters.  Cora  was 
placed  in  a  second  carriage  and  joined  him  an  hour 
later.  They  were  guarded  and  escorted  by  the 
120 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

whole  force  with  all  San  Francisco  as  silent  specta 
tors  ;  for  it  is  said  there  was  no  disturbance  of  any 
kind. 

The  entire  proceedings  were  conducted  with  the 
dignity  and  decorum  of  a  funeral.  When  men 
contemplate  death,  levity  disappears.  Three  hun 
dred  Vigilantes  remained  on  guard  day  and  night. 
The  rest  of  the  army  marched  quietly  down  to  the 
bay  and  discharged  their  weapons,  in  order  to  pre 
vent  accidents  and  be  again  prepared  for  the  ring 
ing  of  the  bell. 

King  died  on  Tuesday,  six  days  after  he  was  shot. 
An  inquest  and  trial  were  had  and  the  verdict 
rendered  read:  "That  the  deceased  came  to  his 
death  by  a  pistol  ball  fired  by  James  S.  Casey  and 
that  the  act  was  premediated  and  unjustifiable." 
Two  days  later,  the  22nd  of  May,  1856,  King  was 
interred. 

As  the  funeral  cortege  of  ten  thousand  silent 
mourners  pressed  down  Montgomery  street,  they 
were  startled  on  gazing  to  the  left  to  see,  a  hundred 
yards  distant,  the  suspended,  swaying  bodies  of 
Cora  and  Casey.  The  vast  multitude  of  soldiers, 
spectators  and  mourners,  encompassing  the  sable 
catafalque,  and  the  lithe  figures  overhead,  quivering 
in  the  mellow  spring  sunshine,  constituted  such  a 
sombre  spectacle  as  has  been  rarely  witnessed. 
Before  being  hanged,  Casey  addressed  a  few  sen 
tences  to  the  listeners;  Cora  said  nothing.  They 
121 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

both  died  like  men,  bravely.  The  two  thousand 
armed  Vigilantes  who  had  witnessed  the  execution 
in  stoical  silence,  were  then  drawn  up  in  line,  double 
file,  and  reviewed  by  the  superior  officers.  Thereafter 
they  countermarched  to  headquarters  and,  entering 
through  one  door,  stacked  arms  and  filed  out 
through  the  opposite  exit  to  mingle  again  with  their 
fellow  citizens. 

The  power  they  had  assumed  for  a  definite  pur 
pose  was  finished,  and  they  resumed  their  various 
vocations  after  its  accomplishment.  They  believed 
what  was  done  was  best  done,  for  the  will  of  the 
good  people  should  be  the  law  of  the  land.  San 
Francisco,  that  had  been  aghast  and  stupefied  since 
the  shooting  of  King,  lived  once  more.  In  its  ar 
teries  flowed  again  the  ripe  blood  of  commerce; 
people  were  aroused  from  their  lethargy,  and  life's 
game  continued,  as  when  sand  is  thrown  over  the 
red  stains,  the  dead  gladiator  dragged  from  the 
Roman  arena  and  the  combat  renewed. 

But  the  committee  retained  its  existence,  ac 
tivity  and  organization — inexorable,  indefatigable, 
implacable.  It  declared  itself  ' '  a  regulating  court, 
determined  to  enforce  measures  to  prevent  the  far 
ther  perpetration  of  crime  and  corruption  in  the 
community.  We  allow  persons  of  all  nations  and 
tongues  of  good  moral  character  to  become  mem 
bers.  These  are  fundamental  principles  of  the 
body  and  will  be  rigidly  adhered  to.  All  creeds, 
122 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

religious  and  political  opinions  must  be  thrown 
aside.  We  enter  the  great  battle  of  virtue  against 
vice,  of  right  against  wrong,  of  liberty  against  op 
pression,  and  we  are  determined  at  all  hazards  to 
crush  out  the  monster  vice  of  election  frauds  as  one 
of  the  greatest  causes  of  our  troubles." 

I  quote  thus  copiously  from  their  proceedings 
and  proclamations  for  it  is  my  opinion  that  men 
who  combined  for  such  grave  purpose  and  did 
such  grave  deeds  without  legal  warranty  can  give 
better  reasons  for  their  actions  than  others.  No 
one  has  ever  been  able  to  state  our  grievances 
against  Britain  more  lucidly  than  they  are  stated 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  committee  arrested  and  imprisoned  many 
persons  suspected  or  known  to  be  guilty  of  crimes. 
One  of  these,  overcome  by  terror,  committed  suicide. 
They  were  all  tried  and,  if  found  guilty,  various 
penalties  were  imposed,  the  most  serious  being 
banishment  from  California.  In  such  cases  the 
culprits  were  placed  on  sea-going  vessels  for  Aus 
tralia,  Europe  or  the  Orient  and  warned  not  to 
return  under  penalty  of  death. 

The  mayor  and  officials  of  the  city  made  no 
effort  to  thwart  the  energetic  actions  of  the  Vigi 
lantes.  The  governor  at  the  committee's  initiative 
did  not  oppose  them.  On  the  contrary,  after  con 
ferring  with  the  leaders  he  instructed  the  sheriff  to 
receive  a  number  of  Vigilantes  in  the  prison,  for  the 
123 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

purpose  of  overseeing  Casey  and  Cora,  and  prevent 
ing  attempts  at  escape.  After  their  execution  he  be 
came  more  hostile  to  the  committee,  and  issued 
orders  to  W.  T.  Sherman  authorizing  him  to  raise 
troops,  incorporate  with  them  the  enrolled  militia 
and  stand  ready  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law. 

The  governor's  proceedings  were  exactly  parallel 
with  those  of  his  predecessor  five  years  previous, 
and  one  might  presume  that  he  was  simply  fol 
lowing  an  established  precedent.  W.  T.  Sherman 
had  been  a  West  Point  graduate,  but  at  this  period 
was  a  member  of  a  San  Francisco  banking  house. 
Because  of  his  military  education  the  governor  very 
properly  proclaimed  Sherman  major-general  of  the 
California  National  Guard.  Sherman  issued  orders 
directing  volunteer  captains  to  fill  their  companies 
to  the  highest  standard,  and  for  all  other  citizens 
not  legally  exempt  to  enroll,  form  companies  of  fifty, 
elect  a  captain,  and  report  to  him  for  duty.  The 
number  of  those,  including  new  recruits,  who  re 
ported  at  his  quarters  was  seventy-five,  to  oppose 
whom  the  Vigilantes  had  five  thousand  men,  with 
a  regular  battery  of  field  pieces.  Two  days  after 
the  governor's  proclamation  was  issued,  the  com 
mittee  tried,  found  guilty  and  deported  on  an  out 
going  vessel  a  half  dozen  vicious  and  desperate 
characters. 

There  were  some  good  men  in  the  city  who  had 
not  as  yet  become  affiliated  with  the  committee. 
124 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

Several  of  these  gentlemen  repaired  to  Benicia 
and  interviewed  the  governor;  Sherman,  Terry, 
Douglas,  the  secretary  of  state,  and  several  other 
state  officials  attending.  They  asserted  emphatic 
ally  that  they  were  not  Vigilantes  nor  cognizant 
of  the  Vigilantes'  projects;  but  if  the  governor 
undertook  to  suppress  the  society  by  force  it  would 
cause  a  crisis  and  bloodshed. 

The  vacillating  and  temporizing  executive  hesi 
tated,  and  Sherman  in  disgust  resigned  his  com 
mission  after  five  days  tenancy  thereof.  When 
he  died,  years  later,  he  was  general  of  all  the  armies 
of  the  United  States. 

The  very  day  after  his  resignation  one  of  the 
city  companies  that  had  been  summoned  by  Sher 
man  met  and  resolved  to  disband;  but  at  once 
reorganized  under  the  name  of  the  Independent 
National  Guard,  subject  to  such  rules  in  sustaining 
the  cardinal  interests  of  the  community  as  they 
thought  best,  but  distinctly  disavowing  all  con 
nection  with  state  authorities. 

Marshal  North,  who  had  been  very  alert  in  per 
sistent  antagonism  to  the  committee,  resigned  as 
city  marshal.  The  press  of  San  Francisco  num 
bered  several  daily  papers.  Of  these  the  Herald 
was  perhaps  the  best  written,  most  influential  and 
successful.  Existing  since  1849,  it  had  approved 
the  Vigilantes  of  1851.  On  this  occasion  it  at 
first  exhibited  vacillation  and  presently  denounced 
125 


A   SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

the  Vigilantes  in  no  uncertain  terms.  The  ven 
geance  of  the  Vigilantes  was  prompt  and  incisive. 
An  immense  number  of  copies  were  heaped  together 
on  Front  Street  and  burned  by  merchants  and  em 
ployees.  The  tradespeople  then  simply  withdrew 
their  subscriptions  and  advertisements.  The  next 
issue  of  the  Herald  following  the  denunciation 
shrunk  from  forty  to  twenty-four  columns;  in  a 
week  to  sixteen,  and  then  it  became  moribund. 
Encouraged  by  these  marks  of  public  support, 
the  committee  issued  the  following  clear  and  vigor 
ous  statement  to  the  people  of  California,  explain 
ing  and  justifying  their  actions : 

"Embodied  in  the  principles  of  republican  gov 
ernment  are  the  truths  that  the  majority  shall 
rule,  and  when  corrupt  officials  who  have  fraudu 
lently  seized  the  reins  of  authority,  designedly 
thwart  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  punishment 
upon  the  notoriously  guilty,  then  the  power  they 
usurped  reverts  back  to  the  people  from  whom 
it  was  wrested.  Realizing  these  truths,  and  con 
fident  that  they  were  carrying  out  the  will  of  the 
vast  majority  of  the  citizens  of  this  country,  the 
Committee  of  Vigilance,  under  a  solemn  sense  of 
responsibility  that  rested  upon  them,  have  calmly 
and  dispassionately  weighed  the  evidence  before 
them  and  decreed  the  death  of  some  who,  by  their 
crimes  and  villianies,  had  stained  our  fair  land. 

"Our  single,  heartfelt  aim  is  the  public  good; 
126 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

the  purging  from  our  community  of  those  aban 
doned  characters  whose  actions  have  been  evil  con 
tinually  and  have  finally  forced  upon  us  the  efforts 
we  are  now  making.  Beyond  the  duties  incident 
to  this  we  do  not  desire  to  interfere  with  the  de 
tails  of  government.  Our  labors  have  been  ar 
duous,  our  deliberations  have  been  cautious,  our 
determination  firm,  our  counsels  prudent,  our  mo 
tives  pure,  and  when  the  community  shall  be  freed 
from  the  evils  it  has  so  long  endured,  when  we  have 
insured  to  our  citizens  an  honest  and  vigorous 
protection  of  their  rights,  then  this  Committee  of 
Vigilance  will  find  great  pleasure  in  resigning 
their  power  into  the  hands  of  the  people  from 
whom  it  was  received." 

But  while  thus  explaining  their  motives  the 
committee  did  not  neglect  other  and  different  pre 
cautions.  It  selected  a  square  by  the  water  front, 
bounded  by  four  streets.  A  few  small  buildings  oc 
cupied  part  of  this  square  and  within  were  con 
structed  cells,  guard-houses  and  trial  courts. 

The  principal  front  was  protected  by  a  sand 
bag  breastwork,  ten  feet  high  and  six  feet  wide, 
constructed  twenty  feet  from  a  wall,  fronting  the 
square.  A  narrow  passage  through  this  fortifica 
tion  admitted  members  to  the  interior,  which  was 
diligently  and  discreetly  guarded  night  and  day. 
Upon  the  strengthened  roof  were  located  a  large 
alarm  bell  and  several  field  pieces.  The  executive 
127 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

chamber  was  a  spacious  room  decorated  with  Ameri 
can  flags.  It  was  denominated  Fort  Vigilance. 
Every  Vigilante  knew  his  number  and  company 
and  was  obligated  whenever  the  dread  bell  should 
ring  out  the  alarum,  at  whatever  hour  it  might  be, 
to  go  at  once  to  the  fort,  shoulder  his  rifle,  join  his 
company  and  stand  for  orders. 

For  over  two  months  following  the  execution  of 
Cora  and  Casey  not  a  single  man  was  murdered 
in  the  streets  or  houses  of  San  Francisco.  Not  a 
single  one!  A  record  hitherto  unknown  in  tho 
annals  of  the  town.  The  fear  of  Vigilante  ven 
geance  was  effective  protection.  The  cry  of  a  ' '  man 
for  breakfast"  was  forgotten  and  people  breathed. 

Then  came  the  reopening — a  quarrel,  verbal  al 
tercation  and  ruthless  shooting  on  the  street  in  open 
day.  The  assassin  had  shot  a  man  on  the  street 
in  a  similar  manner  three  years  before  and  the 
complacent  jury  acquitted  him.  But  things  were 
different  now.  He  was  promptly  seized,  jailed  and 
tried  in  the  executive  chamber.  He  was  permitted 
attorneys,  witnesses  and  every  legitimate  method  of 
disproving  the  grave  crime.  After  three  days' 
patient  hearing  the  committee  of  four  hundred 
sworn  and  attentive  members  adjudged  him  guilty 
and  pronounced  the  penalty — death. 

Another  prisoner  within  the  fortress  walls  had 
killed  two  men  a  year  or  two  previous  and  com 
mitted  other  felonies  wrhich  he  had  boastingly  and 
128 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

insolently  avowed.  Divided  and  bought  juries  had 
hitherto  saved  him,  but  it  was  different  now.  He 
also  was  tried,  convicted,  condemned  and,  on  the 
29th  of  July,  the  two  were  hanged  together  like 
Cora  and  Casey  in  the  presence  of  a  Viligance 
military  force  augmented  to  five  thousand  men. 
A  looker-on  said  that ' '  a  more  impressive,  dramatic 
or  tragic  scene  was  seldom  seen."  By  now  the 
Vigilantes  had  procured  bayonets,  which  were  at 
tached  to  their  muskets,  and  constant  drilling  gave 
them  a  martial  and  resolute  array.  The  gray- 
haired  and  the  black-haired  stood  together;  arrest 
ing  the  laws;  hanging  men  without  cowl,  candle 
or  judge,  yet  no  execution  was  ever  more  grave  or 
solemn.  The  silence  of  the  tomb  pervaded  the 
brilliant  July  day,  and  fifty  thousand  spectators 
assisted  at  the  event.  If  death  is  to  be  the  penalty 
for  death,  it  would  seem  that  the  more  public  the 
punishment  the  more  deterrent  the  effect.  What 
we  do  not  see  we  may  not  fear.  To  view  a  hang 
ing  would  deter  the  average  spectator  I  should 
think  from  participation  as  principal. 

Judge  Edward  McGowan  was  an  intimate  asso 
ciate  of  Casey.  It  was  surmised  that  he  was  cog 
nizant  and  encouraged  Casey  in  his  crime,  as  he  was 
seen  in  the  latter 's  company  on  the  street  a  few 
minutes  before  King  was  shot.  It  was  even  asserted 
that  the  weapon  used  by  Casey  belonged  to  Mc- 
129 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Gowan,  and  he  was  at  once  indicted  by  the  Grand 
Jury  as  an  accessory. 

Therefore  the  Vigilantes  sought  him  after  the 
assassination  when  these  events  were  known,  with 
an  ardor  that  was  compelling.  McGowan  was  secret 
ed  by  friends  in  the  town  and  a  few  weeks  later 
made  a  thrilling  escape  from  the  guarded  city.  He 
rode  swiftly  five  hundred  miles  to  Santa  Barbara, 
a  most  romantic  journey,  replete  with  interesting 
adventures.  While  at  Santa  Barbara  his  identity 
was  discovered,  and  the  committee  sent  several  Vig 
ilantes  to  arrest  and  bring  him  back,  in  which  they 
were  cordially  assisted  by  the  Santa  Barbara  au 
thorities.  All  over  the  interior  sympathy  and  sup 
port  were  devoted  to  the  Committee  of  Safety. 
Armed  military  organizations  in  Sacramento, 
Marysville  and  Placer  offered  to  march  to  San 
Francisco  and  to  unite  with  the  Vigilantes  if  de 
manded.  McGowan  fled  the  beautiful  hamlet 
by  the  sea,  whence  he  escaped  by  a  desperate 
chance  and  remained  ensconced  alone,  hidden  in  the 
mountains,  coming  down  by  night  and  digging  po 
tatoes  in  the  fields,  which  he  devoured  raw. 

For  weeks  he  thus  existed  and,  finally,  months 
later,  when  the  fires  had  died  out,  the  committee 
disbanded  and  men  were  trying  to  forget,  if  not 
forgive,  he  returned  again  on  horseback,  resting 
at  several  of  the  mouldering  old  missions  en  route. 
He  describes  his  experiences  in  a  fascinating  vol- 
130 


DAVID   S.    TERRY 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

ume,  the  glamour  of  which  is  scarce  exceeded  by 
the  most  brilliant  romances  of  Dumas  or  Scott. 

He  was  subsequently  tried  and  acquitted  on  the 
indictment  and  existed  to  a  ripe  age,  leaving 
descendants  who  are  of  the  most  valued  and 
respected  in  the  land. 

The  office-holders  representing  ' '  Law  and  Order, ' ' 
were  naturally  violently  opposed  to  the  committee, 
inasmuch  as  it  had  divested  them  of  any  real  au 
thority  in  both  city  and  state.  They  met  frequently 
in  conference,  but  were  unable  to  formulate  any 
successful  plan  of  antagonism.  Power,  influence, 
sympathy,  righteousness  and  numbers  joined  with 
the  committee.  As  an  instance,  several  cases  of 
rifles  had  been  secretly  shipped  on  a  vessel  sailing 
from  Benicia.  These  weapons  were  consigned  to 
one  of  the  few  city  military  companies  newly  re 
cruited  for  "Law  and  Order." 

Before  touching  its  destination  the  bark  and 
contents  were  captured  on  the  bay  by  the  efficient 
agents  of  the  committee.  Two  men  of  the  guard 
escaped  to  San  Francisco  and  took  refuge  in  the 
office  of  the  captain  of  the  company  for  whose  use 
the  weapons  were  intended.  Hopkins,  one  of  the 
Vigilante  police,  was  sent  to  arrest  these  men,  but 
he  found  in  the  apartment  a  number  of  people, 
including  Judge  David  S.  Terry,  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  state.  Hopkins,  encountering 
resistance,  rushed  out  and,  mounting  a  horse, 
131 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

dashed  to  the  headquarters,  summoned  assistance, 
and  dashed  back.  Meanwhile,  the  party  of  half 
a  dozen,  including  Terry,  all  well  armed  with 
shotguns  and  pistols,  left  the  rooms  and  hurried 
along  the  streets  towards  the  armory  of  the  com 
pany. 

But  Hopkins  overtook  them,  jumped  from  his 
horse,  and  undertook  to  pass  Terry  and  another 
man,  who  formed  the  rear  guard,  the  two  men 
Hopkins  sought  being  in  front.  Terry  raised  his 
shotgun,  Hopkins  seized  it  and  pushed  it  down. 
Then  a  scuffle  ensued,  and  Terry  drawing  a  bowie 
knife,  stabbed  Hopkins  deeply  in  the  left  side  of 
the  neck.  A  melee  followed  between  the  rest  of 
Terry's  party  and  a  number  of  citizens  who  came 
to  Hopkins'  rescue,  but,  although  a  shot  was  fired, 
no  one  was  killed  or  injured,  and  the  assailed  party 
finally  reached  the  armory,  which  was  quickly  bar 
ricaded.  The  ominous  song  of  the  heavy  bell  crown 
ing  the  summit  of  the  Vigilantes 'headquarters,  rang 
over  the  startled  and  attentive  metropolis.  Mer 
chants  and  clerks  closed  their  shops,  draymen  un 
harnessed  their  horses  in  the  streets,  laborers 
and  artisans  hurried  from  their  toil,  the  hotels 
and  manufactories  were  emptied;  members  of 
the  committee,  hastening  to  headquarters,  gave  the 
password,  were  admitted,  seized  rifles  and  formed 
companies  outside.  All  in  good  time,  with  decorum 
and  gravity.  In  an  hour  the  armory  was  sur- 
132 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

rounded  by  thousands  of  armed  and  disciplined 
Americans  and  a  peremptory  demand  made  for 
the  surrender  of  the  inmates. 

Resistance  was  hopeless  and  invited  instant 
death.  The  armory  opened  its  gates,  those  within, 
some  sixty-eight,  surrendered  their  arms,  and  were 
all  marshaled  down  between  ranks  to  headquarters 
where  everyone  was  released  except  Terry,  who 
was  confined  and  strictly  guarded  in  one  of 
the  cells,  awaiting  the  outcome  of  the  wound  he 
inflicted  upon  Hopkins.  This  was  the  21st  of  June, 
1856.  He  was  brought  before  the  executive  com 
mittee  and  the  trial  in  its  majesty  and  exemplary 
conduct  is  a  marvel  and  example. 

Terry  was  accused  of  the  stabbing  of  Hopkins 
and  resisting  officers  of  the  committee  while  in  the 
discharge  of  duty;  of  an  attack  in  1853  on  Mr. 
Roadhouse,  a  citizen  of  Stockton,  in  the  court 
house  of  Stockton;  of  an  attack  on  Mr.  King,  a 
citizen  of  Stockton,  at  the  charter  election  of  Stock 
ton  ;  of  resistance  in  1853  of  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
by  which  William  Roach  escaped  from  the  custody 
of  the  law  and  the  infant  heirs  of  the  Sanchez 
family  were  deprived  of  their  rights;  and  of  an 
attack  in  1853  on  J.  H.  Purdy,  in  the  city  of  San 
Francisco.  To  all  of  these  several  charges  he  re 
plied  in  person  and  by  evidence.  His  first  state 
ment  began  thus: 

' '  It  has  been  suggested  that  I  should  make  some 
133 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

written  statement  in  reply  to  the  charges  made 
against  me  by  your  body. 

"You  doubtless  feel  that  you  are  engaged  in  a 
praiseworthy  undertaking.  This  question  I  will 
not  attempt  to  discuss ;  for  whilst  I  cannot  recon 
cile  your  acts  with  my  ideas  of  right  and  justice, 
candor  forces  me  to  confess  that  the  evils  you  arose 
to  repress  were  glaring  and  palpable,  and  the  end 
you  seek  to  attain  is  a  noble  one.  The  question  on 
which  we  differ  is,  as  to  whether  the  end  justifies 
the  means  by  which  you  have  sought  its  accom 
plishment;  and  as  this  is  a  question  on  which  men 
equally  pure,  upright  and  honest  might  differ,  a 
discussion  would  result  in  nothing  profitable. 

"I  am  aware  that  at  times  I  have  acted  hastily. 
I  am  naturally  of  a  very  excitable  habit,  but  it 
cannot  be  said  by  anyone  that  I  ever  sought 
difficulties.  The  specifiations  speak  of  my  violent 
and  turbulent  habits;  and  what  do  they  prove? 
That  I  will  promptly  resent  a  personal  affront.  One 
of  the  first  lessons  I  learned  was  to  avoid  giving 
insults  and  to  allow  none  to  be  given  to  me.  I  have 
acted,  and  expect  to  continue  to  act,  on  this  prin 
ciple.  I  believe  no  man  has  a  right  to  outrage 
the  feelings  of  another  or  attempt  to  blast  his  good 
name,  without  being  responsible  for  his  actions.  I 
believe  if  a  gentleman  should  wound  the  feelings 
of  anyone  he  should  at  once  make  a  suitable  repara 
tion,  either  by  an  ample  apology,  or,  if  he  feels 
134 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

that  circumstances  prevent  this — that  is,  if  he  made 
charges  that  he  still  thinks  true — should  afford 
him  the  satisfaction  he  desires. 

"I  know  that  a  great  many  men  differ  with 
me,  and  look  with  a  degree  of  horror  on  anyone 
entertaining  such  sentiments.  My  own  experience 
has  taught  me  that  when  the  doctrine  of  personal 
responsibility  obtains  men  are  seldom  insulted 
without  good  cause  and  private  character  is  safer 
from  attack;  that  much  quarreling  and  bad  blood 
and  revengeful  feeling  is  avoided." 

Amid  the  numerous  witnesses  who  testified  in 
Terry's  behalf  were  Perley  and  Brooks,  the  former 
having  been  his  legal  associate  in  Stockton.  Both 
these  gentlemen  appear  later  in  his  difficulty  with 
Broderick. 

Also  came  judges  and  sheriffs  from  Stockton, 
and  people  from  all  over  the  state.  Terry  con 
ducted  his  own  defense,  and  the  proceeding  lasted 
several  weeks.  It  must  be  understood  that  only  the 
executive  committee,  counsel  of  the  defense  and 
prosecution,  and  single  witnesses  were  present,  and 
that  the  hearings  were  in  the  executive  hall,  and 
entirely  secret. 

I  extract  this  testimony  from  the  evidence  of 
R.  P.  Ashe,  from  whose  apartment  Hopkins  was 
first  ejected.  "A  man  called  Terrence  Kelly  came 
to  see  us.  Terry  was  lying  on  the  sofa.  He  said 
he  had  received  notice  to  leave  from  the  Vigilance 
135 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Committee  and  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  in 
strumental  in  giving  in  false  election  returns.  He 
evidently  came  for  protection.  Judge  Terry  said 
to  him  that  it  was  such  damned  rascals  as  he  was 
that  people  had  a  right  to  complain  of  who  had 
produced  all  this  trouble  and  that  he  ought  to  be 
hung.  Kelly  left  and  never  returned." 

The  trial,  which  embraces  seventy-five  closely 
printed  pages  embodying  the  oral  testimony  and 
written  depositions  of  numerous  witnesses,  lasted 
six  weeks  with  this 

VERDICT 

First  charge — Guilty. 

Second  charge — Guilty. 

Third  charge — Guilty. 

Fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  charges— Dismissed. 

JUDGMENT 

"That  David  S.  Terry,  having  been  convicted, 
after  a  full,  fair  and  impartial  trial  of  certain 
charges  before  the  Committee  of  Vigilance  and  the 
usual  punishments  in  their  power  to  inflict  not 
being  applicable  in  the  present  instance,  therefore, 
be  it  declared  the  decision  of  the  Committee  of 
Vigilance,  that  said  David  S.  Terry  be  discharged 
from  their  custody;  and  also 

11  Resolved,  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee 
the  interests  of  the  state  imperatively  demand  that 
the  said  David  S.  Terry  should  resign  his  position 
as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
136 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

"  Resolved,  that  this  resolution  be  read  to  David 
S.  Terry,  and  he  be  forthwith  discharged  from  the 
custody  of  the  Committee  of  Vigilance  on  this  be 
ing  ratified  by  the  Board  of  Delegates. ' ' 

He  did  resign  his  position  as  Judge  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  three  years  later  under  other  but 
equally  untoward  conditions.  Hopkins  lived,  and 
was  convalescent  when  Terry  was  discharged.  It 
is  very  probable  that  if  Hopkins  had  died  Terry 
would  have  hanged.  The  committee  were  im 
placable. 

Those  opposed  to  the  Vigilantes  were  styled 
"Law  and  Order"  associates.  They  by  no  means 
desisted  in  their  efforts,  despite  the  overpowering 
moral  and  military  ascendency  of  the  committee. 

Turning  from  the  governor  as  impracticable,  they 
appealed  to  the  United  States  naval  and  military 
authorities  at  San  Francisco.  General  Wool  de 
clared  he  should  intervene  only  upon  instructions 
from  Washington.  A  committee  left  directly  and, 
proceeding  via  Panama,  interviewed  the  President 
at  the  WTiite  House.  The  President  told  them  that 
until  called  upon  officially  by  the  state  authorities 
the  federal  government  could  do  nothing.  He 
added  that  the  proper  method  of  procedure  would 
be  for  the  governor  to  summon  the  legislature  in 
extra  session,  the  legislature  should  declare  the 
state  in  insurrection  and  authorize  the  governor  to 
levy  troops  and  forcibly  suppress  all  insubordina- 
137 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

tion.  Then,  if  unsuccessful,  the  governor  and  legis 
lature  could  call  upon  the  President  for  relief,  and 
it  would  be  granted. 

The  deputation  returned  to  California  with  this 
bootless  message.  For  the  members  of  the  legisla 
ture,  springing  from  the  people  and  seeking  re 
election  in  the  fall,  were  only  solicitious  to  make 
their  approval  and  endorsement  of  the  Vigilantes 
decided  and  positive,  and  the  governor  dared  not 
call  them  together,  even  if  he  had  been  so  inclined, 
so  that  project  was  fruitless,  and  the  committee 
remained  resolute  masters.  Still,  affairs  progressed 
as  usual.  Courts  met  and  adjourned,  petty  crim 
inals  were  arrested,  tried  and  judged.  Over  the 
state  was  the  utmost  quiet.  The  Vigilantes  inter 
fered  with  no  constituted  authority ;  only  as  censors, 
like  so  many  Catos,  they  serenely  contemplated  the 
conditions. 

From  the  police  commissioner  they  took  the  bal 
lot-boxes,  still  preserved,  of  the  preceding  elections. 
On  a  careful  examination  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  boxes  had  false  bottoms  and  sides,  skilfully  con 
trived.  These  false  compartments  were  stuffed  with 
spurious  ballots  before  polling;  when  the  balloting 
was  ended  the  contents  of  the  box  would  be  emptied 
on  the  table;  the  secret  chambers  opened,  and  the 
fictitious  ballots  fell  in  a  heap  with  the  genuine  ones 
and  were  counted  together.  It  was  quite  easy  and 

138 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  VIGILANCE 

simple,  and  its  efficiency  was  exhibited  in  the  elec 
tion  of  Casey  and  his  friends. 

The  Vigilantes  exposed  this  fraud  to  the  public, 
and  then  nominated  for  the  ensuing  city  elec 
tion  a  ticket  chosen  by  the  committee  and  ratified  by 
the  Vigilantes  in  general,  publishing  the  names  sev 
eral  weeks  in  advance,  and  substituting  other  names 
when  found  desirable  or  necessary  through  public 
criticism.  In  November  this  ticket  was  elected  to 
a  man,  and  the  same  people  and  influences  that 
inspired  and  controlled  the  action  of  the  Vigi 
lantes  continued  to  rule  San  Francisco  for  a  quar 
ter  of  a  century,  during  which  it  was  one  of  the 
best-governed  cities  in  the  world.  Directly  after 
the  election  the  Vigilantes  held  a  grand  review  and 
then  disbanded. 

On  the  roster  were  between  eight  and  nine  thou 
sand  names,  and  nearly  the  entire  host  paraded. 
They  had  existed  six  months  and  the  two  assassina 
tions  in  the  city  during  that  period  could  be  easily 
computed.  During  the  same  half  of  the  previous 
year  the  number  of  men  killed  by  violence  exceeded 
a  hundred!  That  is  what  the  Vigilantes  accom 
plished.  The  reign  of  terror  was  ended  and  Cali 
fornia  was  civilized  by  methods  not  sanctioned  in 
civilization. 


139 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SENATOR 

The  Vigilance  Committee,  like  the  Native  Ameri 
can  party  of  the  preceding  year,  does  not  appear 
to  have  seriously  affected  Broderick  or  his  for 
tunes.  He  remained  constantly  and  inviolably  a 
Democrat,  never  swerving  from  his  fealty.  The 
American  organization  was  evanescent  and  the 
Vigilantes  confined  to  the  city,  with  no  special  bear 
ing  on  the  legislature.  The  proof  of  this  is  exhib 
ited  when  we  find  that  in  the  November  elections 
of  1856,  while  the  Vigilantes  elected  every  single 
one  of  their  nominees  on  the  municipal  ticket,  all, 
or  nearly  all,  of  the  successful  members  of  the  legis 
lature  from  San  Francisco  were  Broderick  men. 
The  Vigilantes,  according  to  their  written  tenet, 
recognized  no  party  nor  creed  in  their  councils; 
only  honesty  and  integrity,  against  dishonesty  and 
crime. 

It  is  true  that  formerly  Broderick  had  the  city 
government  in  his  grasp  and  possessed  it  for  years. 
It  was  the  real  foundation  of  his  power  and  en 
abled  him  to  live  while  he  was  growing.  But  the 
American  party  victory  of  1855  had  shattered  his 
edifice,  and  the  Vigilantes  of  1856  completely  de- 
140 


SENATOR 

molished  the  structure.  But  by  now  he  was  re 
garded  over  the  state  as  a  statesman  whose  aspira 
tions  for  an  exalted  station  were  known  to  every 
one,  and  by  virtue  of  this  recognition  he  was  not 
called  upon  to  do  "local  politics,"  which  must 
have  been  to  him  an  immense  relief. 

Nevertheless,  many  of  his  errant  followers  were 
on  the  proscribed  list  o£  the  committee  and  many 
more  deserved  to  be.  A  man  who  had  ruled  a  city 
for  years  must  have  been  compelled  to  use  and  rec 
ognize  elements  that  were  sordid  and  vicious;  ele 
ments  that  he  must  have  despised,  yet  admitted  to 
his  acquaintance,  for  one  cannot  control  men  or 
multitudes  with  kid  gloves  and  platitudes.  Almost 
the  only  definite  reference  to  the  committee  by 
Broderick  or  of  Broderick  is  his  own  statement, 
made  three  years  later,  that  "during  Terry's  incar 
ceration  by  the  Vigilance  Committee  I  paid  $200 
a  week  to  support  a  newspaper  in  Terry's  defense." 
Like  a  wise  man  he  left  the  turbulent  geyser  of  the 
city  to  the  calming  influence  of  Time,  that  marvel 
ous  physician,  and  visited  the  towns,  hamlets,  camps 
and  gold  gorges  of  the  interior.  He  met  and  inter 
viewed  each  and  every  individual  Democratic  as 
pirant  for  the  legislature  from  north  to  south  and 
from  east  to  west,  exercising  all  his  grave  and 
impressive  personality  to  gain  their  suffrages.  One 
of  these,  Rogers  of  Tuolumne,  relates  that  Brod 
erick  came  to  see  him  on  a  rainy  day  and  they  con- 
141 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

f erred  from  sundown  until  late  next  morning.  Rog 
ers  was  obdurate ;  he  was  pledged  to  both  Gwin  and 
Weller,  but  did  not  so  declare  to  Broderick.  On  the 
contrary,  he  said:  "I  will  not  vote  for  you,  for 
when  the  Vigilance  Committee  was  running  the 
city  your  friends  wanted  to  know  where  you  stood, 
whether  for  or  against  them,  and  no  one  knew." 
But  Broderick  only  replied:  "When  you  come  to 
San  Francisco  I  wish  you  would  come  and  see 
me. "  ' ' No, ' '  said  the  sturdy  Rogers :  "I  am  not 
going  to  the  city.  I  am  going  to  Sacramento." 

Of  course,  Broderick  guarded  silence  respecting 
the  committee,  for  it  was  indeed  a  double-edged 
blade;  besides  it  was  over,  and  what  man  will  risk 
his  political  future  over  past  questions  ?  The  pres 
ent  problems  are  always  sufficiently  absorbing. 

Here,  perhaps,  I  may  advert  to  the  story  of 
George  Wilkes  and  Broderick.  Wilkes  was  of  New 
York;  a  brilliant  writer  and  bubbling  Bohemian, 
but  erratic  and  unreliable,  with  a  peculiar  repu 
tation.  He  had  known  Broderick  in  New  York 
and  followed  him  to  California,  where  he  became 
one  of  the  latter 's  political  associates  and  adju 
tants.  After  a  while  they  quarreled  and  Wilkes 
forthwith  returned  to  New  York.  The  idea  or 
thought  was  industriously  propagated  that  Wilkes 
was  Broderick 's  brains;  that  every  wise  action 
was  due  to  the  prompting  of  Wilkes,  and  every  un 
wise  deed  ascribed  to  Broderick  himself.  I  can  dis- 
142 


SENATOR 

cover  no  foundation  for  this  assumption.  Wilkes 
left  California  in  1854,  and  certainly  my  readers 
will  coincide  that  Broderick's  career  thereafter  in 
dicated  no  abatement  in  energy  or  judgment. 
Doubtless  in  the  earlier  California  years,  when  a 
meager  opinion,  based  on  ignorance,  prevailed  as 
to  Broderick's  mental  and  educational  acquire 
ments,  a  misconception  of  the  man  existed,  and  it 
took  time  to  dissipate  this  prejudice. 

General  Worthington  relates  that  when  he  came 
to  California  he  imbibed  the  common  sentiment 
against  Broderick  as  a  shoulder-hitter  and  brawling 
ruffian.  One  of  his  new-made  friends,  Colonel  Mon 
roe,  a  grand  nephew  of  President  Monroe,  and,  of 
course,  parenthetically,  a  federal  official,  was  a 
close  personal  friend  of  Broderick. 

Worthington  could  not  comprehend  an  intimacy 
between  the  aristocratic  scion  of  the  South  and  the 
knock-down  and  drag-out  leader  of  the  masses  from 
New  York  City.  On  an  occasion  he  and  Monroe 
met  several  men  at  a  hotel.  Broderick  was 
one  of  these;  Worthington  had  never  seen  him. 
When  presented  mutually,  Broderick's  name  was 
pronounced  so  indistinctly  that  the  general  did  not 
hear.  After  a  short  conversation  they  separated, 
and  Worthington  said  to  Monroe :  i  l  Who  was  the 
remarkably  affable  and  intelligent  gentleman  with 
whom  we  have  been  talking?"  He  was  amazed  to 
hear  that  it  was  Broderick.  Their  friendship  dated 
143 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

from  that  moment,  and  when  garlanded  with  the 
silvered  radiance  of  eighty-four  years,  Worthing- 
ton  could  refer  to  his  dead  leader  and  the  pathetic 
end  only  in  broken  accents  and  with  humid  eyes. 

The  election  of  1856  included  three  parties.  The 
Presidential  nominee  of  the  nascent  Republican 
party  was  Fremont,  the  California  path-finder  and 
the  first  man  to  represent  the  state  in  the  national 
senate.  The  American  party  was  dying,  almost  as 
soon  as  born  and,  by  now,  was  moribund,  while 
the  Republicans  were  alert  and  bold  with  the 
fervor,  energy  and  devotion  common  to  new  re 
ligious  and  new  political  principles.  The  Demo 
crats  won,  as  usual,  but  for  the  last  time  in  many 
years. 

Buchanan  was  chosen  President,  and  in  Califor 
nia  all  the  state  officials,  as  well  as  the  legislature, 
were  safely  Democratic.  The  Vigilance  Committee 
carried  and  held  the  citadel  of  San  Francisco,  but 
did  not  intervene  in  state  affairs. 

An  early  estimate  of  the  legislators-elect  gave 
Broderick  a  preponderating  majority  of  the  Demo 
crats,  though  not  by  any  means  of  the  whole  legis 
lature,  for  that  body  embraced  in  its  membership 
Know-Nothings,  Whigs  and  Republicans,  as  well  as 
Democrats,  the  latter  outnumbering  all  the  others 
combined. 

His  triumphant  position  was  recognized  to  that 
degree  that  when  he  returned  to  the  city  in  Novem- 
144 


SENATOR 

ber,  directly  after  the  elections,  he  received  an  ova 
tion  as  if  he  already  sat  upon  the  throne.  It  was 
a  gage  of  his  ultimate  success.  The  legislature  met 
early  in  January,  1857.  The  condition  and  the  prob 
lem  confronting  Broderick  and  his  opponents  were 
these :  Two  senators  were  to  be  chosen.  I  say  two 
because  Gwin's  seat  had  been  untenanted  since 
1855,  and  Weller's  period  of  six  years  terminated 
in  March,  1857.  Therefore,  the  man  chosen  for 
Gwin's  place  would  hold  only  four  years,  whilst 
the  successor  to  Weller  would  serve  six  solid,  long, 
important  years,  pregnant  even  then  with  war  and 
death,  with  the  welfare,  nay,  even  the  life  of  the 
great  republic ;  and,  therefore,  the  six  years '  prize 
was  the  highest  reward  of  the  tournament,  and 
for  it  the  knights  prepared  their  lances  and  armor. 
Broderick  found  a  half-dozen  antagonists,  each  of 
them  with  votes,  but  the  votes  controlled  by  no 
one,  nor  even  two  allied  forces  could  outnumber  his 
warriors.  Most  of  these  men  had  remained  loyal 
and  faithful  during  the  five  years'  campaign, 
marked  with  more  defeats  than  victories,  but  never 
despairing  and  never  rebellious.  With  the  enemy 
divided  and  their  champion  in  arms,  they  were 
buoyant,  vigilant  and  energetic.  One  of  them 
assumed  the  garb  and  duties  of  a  waiter  at  a  secret 
consultation  of  the  allies,  and  thus  hearing  projects 
discussed,  promptly  divulged  them  to  Broderick; 
only  after  the  campaign  ended  did  the  conclave 
145 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

know  who  had  betrayed  their  counsels.  But  Brod- 
erick  had  heavy  political  debts  accruing  during  the 
past  years  of  struggle,  which  he  should  liqui 
date.  What  with  the  American  party  success  of 
'55  and  the  Vigilantes'  triumph  of  '56  in  San  Fran 
cisco  he  had  been  completely  dislodged  from  that 
old  haven,  and  his  faithful  retainers  were  wan 
dering  in  the  cold,  cold  world  with  not  even  a 
mantle  of  their  master  to  protect  them.  He  had 
never  a  mouthful  of  the  federal  provender,  for 
his  influence  was  local,  not  national.  He  was  un 
known  in  Washington,  and  the  senators  in  the  sad 
dle  very  naturally  gathered  the  game.  The  state 
administration  was  Know-Nothing,  or  American, 
and  though  in  a  condition  of  catalepsy,  all  the 
grapes  were  garnered  and  devoured  by  the  few 
remaining  members  of  that  association.  On  the 
other  side,  however,  the  new  national  administra 
tion  was  Democratic  and  so  was  Broderick.  It  was 
customary  at  the  commencement  of  each  four  years 
of  a  presidency  to  replace  the  federal  incumbents 
by  friends  of  the  new  regime.  So,  without  im 
propriety  or  injustice,  according  to  the  recognized 
political  tenets,  one  could  foresee  an  entire  and  rad 
ical  change  emanating  from  the  White  House,  in 
volving  naval  officers,  appraisers,  mint,  revenue 
service,  postmasters,  treasurers  and  other  national 
employees — enough  patronage  to  content  even  his 
hungry  supporters.  And  as  very  few,  indeed,  of  the 
146 


SENATOR 

"Virginia  Poor-House"  collection  supported  him, 
Broderick  could  contemplate  their  funeral  with 
equanimity.  I  have  said  it  was  enough  for  his 
people;  but  only  if  it  were  not  divided.  One  is 
only  one-half  of  two,  and  one-half  would  not  be 
sufficient.  He  must  have  all. 

In  demanding  the  resignation  of  the  patronage 
he  saw  no  injustice.  For  all  the  years  that  Gwin 
had  been  senator  none  but  pro-slavery  men  had  re 
ceived  office  from  his  generosity.  There  was  but  a 
single  exception ;  and  of  those  pro-slavery  men  the 
greater  number  were  Southerners.  Broderick  could 
now  reward  his  friends,  remember  Northern  Demo 
crats,  and  equalize  the  sectional  distribution  of  ap 
pointments. 

He  examined  these  various  problems  carefully  in 
the  recesses  of  his  silent,  reflective  brain,  for,  like 
Napoleon  before  Marengo,  he  realized  the  value  of 
his  position,  and  finally  determined  to  demand  not 
one  but  all  the  trophies.  He  resolved  to  be  elected 
as  senator  for  the  long  term  of  six  years,  to  choose 
his  colleague  for  the  shorter  period  of  four  years, 
and  to  bind  this  associate  to  surrender  the  patron 
age. 

First  he  must  be  elected  for  the  long  term.  It  is 
true  that  all  precedents  pointed  to  the  filling  of 
Gwin's  seat  first,  which  had  been  vacant  since 
1855,  and  his  successor  would  only  retain  the  office 
four  years,  for,  though  the  term  was  six  years,  yet 
147 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

it  would  date,  according  to  the  statutes,  from  the 
expiration  of  Gwin's  incumbency.  But  precedents 
were  made  to  be  broken  and  Broderick  was  already 
proficient  in  the  art. 

With  six  men  clamoring  for  the  senatorship  it 
would  go  hard,  indeed,  if  he  could  not  clutch  the 
few  votes  necessary  to  his  success.  It  must  not  be 
thought  that  these  aspirants  were  not  men  of  t '  light 
and  leading."  Weller  was  afterwards  governor; 
Latham  became  both  governor  and  senator,  filling 
Broderick 's  post  after  his  death;  McDougall  also 
ended  his  fitful  career  as  senator,  and  Field  as 
sumed  the  ermine  of  a  Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court. 

The  attrition  of  elements  from  over  the  entire 
globe  that  clashed  in  these  early  years  of  the  golden 
state  threw  the  best  and  brightest  upward  and  for 
ward.  Up  to  now  the  Broderick-Gwin  feud  or  ven 
detta  was  a  misnomer.  It  became  a  stern  verity 
later  when  the  two  men  sat  together  in  the  Senate 
and  differed  on  national  questions ;  but  at  this  epoch 
both  were  fighting  all  comers  as  well  as  each  other. 
It  is  quite  true  that  all  California  knew  Broder 
ick  's  inexorable,  implacable,  unyielding  resolve,  and 
all  California  knew  that  Gwin  desired  to  return  to 
his  exalted  station;  but  while  these  two  were  more 
distinctive,  the  other  men  I  have  enumerated  were 
by  no  means  negligible  quantities.  I  have  shown 
that  in  the  legislature  of  1854  they  had  united  with 

148 


SENATOR 

Gwin  against  Broderick  because  he  was  the  stronger. 
Again  in  1855  they  coalesced  with  Broderick 
against  Gwin,  for  then  Gwin  was  more  potent. 

In  1856  the  Know-Nothings  preponderated,  and 
all  these  warring  Democrats  allied  themselves  like 
everlasting  friends  to  prevent  the  foolish  and  inex 
perienced  American  party  virgins  from  taking  the 
lighted  lamp.  And  now  in  1857,  for  the  fourth 
time,  the  contestants  assembled  in  the  legislative 
arena.  Let  me  also  add  that  sectional  sentiments 
controlled  the  situation  to  but  a  very  slight  degree. 

The  war  had  not  yet  begun,  not  even  in  Cali 
fornia.  Events  trod  on,  one  after  another,  faster 
and  faster,  with  startling  celerity  within  the  com 
ing  years,  but  the  shadows  of  the  veiled  future 
did  not  disturb  the  Sacramento  gathering.  On  the 
contrary,  men  met  in  the  camps  and  mountains 
and  formed  durable  and  sympathetic  friendships 
which  began  and  culminated  under  the  California 
sunshine  until  the  end,  regardless  of  political  or 
personal  antecedents.  All  that  happened  in  the 
East  was  forgotten  and  the  new  amities  created  out 
of  the  rising  West  endured  forever.  Broderick 's 
principal  lieutenant,  Judge  Frank  Tilford,  was  a 
Kentuckian,  and  Randolph  and  Crittenden  related 
to  well-known  Southern  families,  were  his  staunch 
partisans,  while  several  of  Gwin's  most  ardent  sup 
porters  were  Northerners.  Neither  Gwin  nor  Brod 
erick  had  expressed  himself  as  personally  hostile 
149 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

or  antipathetic.  No  one  of  the  several  aspirants 
had  placed  himself  by  ill-timed  word  or  fruitless 
action  beyond  the  line  of  negotiation  or  compro 
mise,  so  when  Broderick  confronted  the  array  he 
was  free  to  make  any  combination  or  combinations 
as  his  faculties  and  his  friends  commended. 

Directly  the  legislature  assembled  a  Democratic 
caucus  was  summoned  to  meet  the  third  evening 
thereafter.  Broderick 's  supporters  announced  that 
the  caucus  would  be  asked  to  vote  for  the  long  term 
first  and  he  would  be  a  candidate  for  that  station. 
What  were  the  others  to  do?  He  was  stronger  by 
far  than  any  single  opponent.  Why  then  incur  his 
enmity,  especially  as  he  hit  hard  and  when  the  sec 
ond  seat  remained,  even  if  only  for  four  years? 
He  could  afford  to  be  neutral.  They  could  hardly 
combine  on  one  of  themselves.  That  would  not 
quench  the  losers'  sorrow  and  they  would  gain  no 
more  by  that  than  in  beating  Broderick. 

Several  attempts  were  made  to  win  his  favor  for 
one  or  the  other,  notably  for  Latham,  most  of  whose 
supporters  were  also  the  adherents  of  Broderick, 
but  he  very  sagely  held  himself  aloof.  Why  not? 
Like  Miltiades  at  Marathon  he  was  their  second 
choice.  On  Thursday  evening  all  the  Democrats 
in  the  legislature,  to  the  number  of  seventy-nine, 
met  in  caucus  and  adopted  a  resolution  to  ballot  for 
the  long  term  first.  The  division  stood  forty-two 
to  thirty-seven. 

150 


SENATOR 

Broderick  was  immediately  nominated  for  sen 
ator  ;  this  much  coveted  six  years,  his  only  opponent 
being  Weller,  who  was  defeated  by  the  same  vote. 
Not  much,  it  is  true ;  only  five,  but  enough,  as  said 
Mercutio. 

The  very  next  day,  January  10,  1857,  the  legisla 
ture,  in  joint  convention  assembled,  elected  David 
Colbert  Broderick  as  United  States  senator  from 
California  for  six  years,  to  begin  March  4th,  1857. 

The  balloting  stood : 

David  C.  Broderick 79 

J.   W.    Coffroth 16 

Edward  Stanley 14 

L.  Bynm   1 

J.  B.  Weller 1 

He  received  every  Democratic  vote.  The  official 
journal  says  that  "the  announcement  of  the  elec 
tion  of  Mr.  Broderick  was  received  with  tremen 
dous  applause." 

One  of  the  beautiful  classic  legends  of  Greece 
(I  wish  there  were  more  of  them)  relates  that  three 
golden  apples  were  taken  from  the  triply-watched 
garden  of  the  Hesperides.  But  for  the  combatants 
in  Sacramento  there  existed  only  two,  and  one  had 
already  fallen  to  Broderick.  Therefore,  the  struggle 
for  the  remaining  golden  fruit  of  the  senatorship 
was  fierce  and  unpausing.  The  town  was  small, 
the  hotels  few  and  in  near  proximity.  Each  cheva 
lier  had  his  headquarters  with  patrols  and  scouts 
151 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

to  guard  his  own  force  from  treachery  and  observe 
the  movements  of  the  enemy.  Sacramento  was 
overflowing  with  Californians  drawn  from  the 
whole  state,  who  came  to  help  their  favorite  or  to 
survey  the  field  of  honor.  Every  motive  or  argu 
ment  of  influence,  of  friendship,  hate,  love,  anger, 
old  feuds,  old  friendships,  bitter  memories  and 
pleasant  ones,  too,  were  conjured,  nourished,  cher 
ished  and  thrown  in  the  swaying  balances.  We  who 
float  in  these  placid,  smooth,  ambitionless  waters 
today  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  realize  the  fierce 
rivalry,  the  intensity  of  purpose  and  the  sleepless 
energy  of  those  few  short  days.  Every  motive,  as 
I  have  said,  was  called  into  play  except  the  vulgar, 
debasing  one  of  money  bribery.  Not  a  single  taint 
of  corruption  stains  the  escutcheons  of  those  gentle 
men  who  struggled  so  well  and  valiantly  for  their 
chosen  chieftains.  Votes  were  changed,  but  the 
reasons  were  well  understood,  and  those  reasons 
were  honorable  as  well  as  human.  The  caste  of 
political  prostitutes  was  then  unknown,  and  men 
continued  free  Americans. 

They  charged  home,  brandishing  lances  and 
swords,  but  fairly,  with  faces  to  the  foe.  It  is  said 
that  for  five  nights  and  days  Sacramento  was  as 
active  by  night  as  by  day.  No  one  seemed  to  sleep. 
The  Civil  War  was  not  yet  begun,  but  the  blood- 
red  veil  of  the  future  had  commenced  to  chill  the 
air  and  cool  friendships.  The  days  to  come  were 
152 


SENATOR 

portentous  and  these  men,  strong  and  self-reliant, 
were  anxious  to  be  leaders  among  the  elect. 

Finally  they  stood,  panting  and  exhausted,  con 
fronting  each  other.  The  five  days'  struggle  cul 
minated  in  a  deadlock;  no  one  had  a  majority  and 
only  superior  power  and  prestige,  hitherto  unfelt, 
could  cause  victory  to  appear.  Broderick  had  re 
mained  aloof  from  the  fray,  observing  the  daily  and 
nightly  assaults  and  parries;  moodily  biding  the 
hour. 

It  came,  and  the  embattled  warriors  like  sup 
pliants  offered  him  fealty.  Give  the  senatorship, 
that  bauble  solely,  and  he  could  have  aught  else. 
Patronage,  prestige,  all  were  his.  They  were  ready 
to  accept  the  seat  on  any  terms  whatever  that  he 
should  impose.  He  chose  Gwin.  I  have  hitherto 
said  that  between  Broderick  and  Gwin,  up  to  their 
joint  election,  there  was  no  personal  or  political 
antipathy.  That  came  afterwards,  and  one  of  the 
potent  reasons  shall  presently  appear.  Otherwise, 
why  did  he  not  select  as  his  colleague  some  other 
candidate  ?  That  he  could  have  done  so  is  manifest. 
And  his  choice  of  Gwin  was,  from  the  standpoint 
of  elevated  statesmanship,  a  judicious  one.  They 
represented  the  two  extremes,  political  and  sec 
tional  of  Democracy,  and,  therefore,  their  friendship 
should  allay  past  jealousies  arising  from  these 
causes. 

Gwin  had  already  served  in  the  Senate,  and  his 
153 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

acquaintance  and  influence  earnestly  and  sincerely 
given  to  Broderick  should  render  the  younge*  man 's 
beginnings  in  his  new  sphere  more  agreeable. 

Broderick  at  thirty-seven  was  the  second  young 
est  member  of  the  Senate.  Gwin  was  fifty-two. 
They  held  a  secret  conference,  and  at  the  next  cau 
cus  Gwin  received  a  majority,  and  the  day  fol 
lowing  was  elected  senator  for  four  years,  until 
March,  1861.  On  this  same  day,  namely,  the  13th 
of  January,  1857,  Gwin,  published,  over  his  signa 
ture,  "an  address  to  the  people  of  California": 

"I  have  thought  it  proper,  in  view  of  the  sena 
torial  contest,  which  has  resulted  in  the  election  of 
Mr.  David  C.  Broderick  and  myself  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  to  state  to  the  people  of  Cali 
fornia  certain  circumstances  and  facts  which  com 
pose  a  part  of  the  history  of  that  arduous  struggle. 

"My  election  was  attended  by  circumstances 
which  rarely  occur  in  the  course  of  such  contests. 
A  representative,  whose  evil  destiny  it  is  to  be  the 
indirect  dispenser  of  federal  patronage,  will 
strangely  miscalculate  if  he  expects  to  evade  the 
malice  of  disappointed  men. 

"I  had  learned  in  the  struggle  that  he  who  aids 
in  conferring  great  official  power  upon  individuals 
does  not  always  secure  friends,  and  that  the  force 
of  deep  personal  obligations  may  even  be  converted 
into  an  incentive  to  hostility  and  hate.  In  a  word 
to  the  federal  patronage  in  the  state  do  I  attribute 
154 


SENATOR 

in  a  great  degree  the  malice  and  hostile  energy, 
which,  after  years  of  faithful  public  service  and 
toward  the  closing  period  of  life,  have  nearly  cost 
me  the  endorsement  of  a  re-election  to  the  United 
States  Senate.  From  patronage  then  and  the  curse 
it  entails  I  shall  gladly  in  future  turn  and  my  sole 
labor  and  ambition  henceforth  shall  be  to  deserve 
well  of  the  state  and  to  justify  the  course  of  the 
legislature  in  honoring  me  a  second  time  as  a  repre 
sentative  of  its  interests. 

"I  have  hinted  above  at  other  aid  than  that  re 
ceived  from  those  whom  I  have  regarded  as  friends ; 
I  refer  to  the  timely  assistance  accorded  to  me  by 
Mr.  Broderick  and  his  friends. 

"  Although  at  one  time  a  rival  and  recognizing 
in  him  a  fierce  but  manly  opponent,  I  do  not  hesi 
tate  to  acknowledge  in  this  public  manner  his  for- 
getfulness  of  all  grounds  of  dissension  and  hostil 
ity,  in  what  he  considered  a  step  necessary  to  allay 
the  strifes  and  discords  which  had  distracted  the 
party  and  the  state.  To  him  and  to  the  attachment 
of  his  friends  I  conceive  in  a  great  degree  my  elec 
tion  is  due;  and  I  feel  bound  to  him  and  them  in 
common  efforts  to  unite  and  heal,  when  the  result 
heretofore  has  been  to  break  down  and  destroy. ' ' 

This  clear  and  intelligent  document  made  quite 

evident  to  the  least  discriminating  the  price  Gwin 

paid  for  the  senatorship.     It  was  neither  obscure 

nor  dubious.    It  was  addressed  to  the  people.    Two 

155 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

days  previously,  however,  before  he  was  elected,  he 
presented  to  Brodrick  the  annexed  letter. 

"Sacramento  City,  January  11,  1857. 

' '  Hon.  D.  C.  Broderick,  Dear  Sir :  I  am  likely  to 
be  the  victim  of  the  unparalleled  treachery  of  those 
who  have  been  placed  in  power  by  my  aid  and  exer 
tion. 

"The  most  potential  portion  of  the  federal 
patronage  is  in  the  hands  of  those  who,  by  every 
principle  that  should  govern  men  of  honor  should 
be  my  supporters  instead  of  my  enemies,  and  it  is 
being  used  for  my  destruction.  My  participation  in 
the  distribution  of  this  patronage  has  been  the 
source  of  numberless  slanders  upon  me  that  have 
fostered  a  prejudice  in  the  public  mind  against  me 
and  have  created  enmities  that  have  been  destruc 
tive  to  my  happiness  and  peace  of  mind  for  years. 
It  has  entailed  untold  evils  upon  me,  and  while 
in  the  senate  I  will  not  recommend  a  single  indi 
vidual  to  appointment  to  office  in  the  state.  Pro 
vided  I  am  elected  you  shall  have  the  exclusive 
control  of  this  patronage,  so  far  as  I  am  con 
cerned  ;  and  in  its  distribution  I  shall  only  ask  that 
it  may  be  used  with  magnanimity  and  not  for  the 
advantage  of  those  who  have  been  our  mutual  ene 
mies  and  unwearied  in  their  efforts  to  destroy  us. 

' '  This  determination  is  unalterable ;  and  in  mak 
ing  this  declaration  I  do  not  expect  you  to  support 
me  for  that  reason,  or  in  any  way  to  be  governed 
156 


SENATOR 

by  it;  but  as  I  have  been  betrayed  by  those  who 
should  have  been  my  friends,  I  am  in  a  measure 
powerless  myself  and  depend  upon  your  magna 
nimity, 

' '  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"WM.  M.  GWIN." 

The  existence  and  contents  of  this  " scarlet"  let 
ter  Broderick  never  divulged,  though  at  times  he 
had  rare  provocation,  for  two  years  and  a  half.  A 
month  later  he  was  slain ! 

On  his  return  as  a  senator  to  San  Francisco 
he  was  received  like  a  triumphing  Roman.  Pro 
cessions,  addresses,  illuminations,  the  roar  of 
ordnance  and  the  whole  town  to  acclaim.  In  sev 
eral  of  the  interior  cities,  as  in  Benicia,  special 
entertainments  were  presented.  It  should  have 
been  soothing  to  his  perturbed  spirit,  for  it  was 
generous  and  spontaneous.  Those  who  had  op 
posed  him  most  strenuously  during  the  years  chival 
rously  said :  ' '  He  has  won  fairly  and  manfully  in 
fair  fighting,  and  he  deserves  his  success. '  ' 

But  Broderick  was  not  unduly  elated.  He  re 
ceived  the  plaudits  with  dignity  and  in  silence. 
Now  that  he  sat  in  the  chariot  of  the  sun,  would 
he  prove  able  to  guide  its  course  among  the  stars? 
After  winning  life's  goal,  there  be  disappointments 
ever  and  oft.  The  stimulus  of  seeking  is  more  soul- 
stirring  than  the  pleasure  of  possessing. 


157 


CHAPTER  IX 

WASHINGTON 

The  two  senators  departed  from  California  to 
gether,  going  by  steamer,  via  the  Isthmus  route, 
which  was  relatively  speedy  and  more  comfortable, 
the  voyage  to  New  York  occupying  somewhat  less 
than  a  month.  Gwin  continued  on  to  Washington, 
while  his  brother  senator  remained  in  New  York 
for  a  few  short  days.  The  latter 's  former  friends, 
personal  and  political,  welcomed  his  advent  with 
warm  demonstrations.  The  distinction  he  had 
achieved  and  the  redemption  of  the  assurance  an 
nounced  on  his  departure  eight  years  previously 
that  he  would  never  return  "except  as  United 
States  senator  from  California"  were  recalled  and 
recognized. 

He  was  cordially  and  heartily  greeted.  The  mu 
nicipal  authorities  adopted  resolutions  welcoming 
him  to  New  York  and  he  was  the  guest  at  several 
banquets  where  were  gathered  the  city's  best.  The 
New  Yorkers  seemed  to  regard  him  as  one  of  them 
and  his  success  a  personal  triumph.  Yet,  in  pe 
rusing  their  encomiums  one  cannot  discern  a  very 
strong  note  of  surprise.  One  might  say  that  it 
158 


WASHINGTON 

was  expected ;  so  strong  a  sense  of  his  personal  abil 
ity  and  energy  had  he  inspired. 

His  New  York  friends  seemed  to  think  he  would 
move  farther  and  higher.  But  he  hastened  from 
these  vanities,  as  he  had  from  home  tributes,  and 
journeyed  to  Washington,  where  his  new  life  would 
have  its  inception.  Here  he  was  presently  to  know 
how  void  and  futile  become  written  promises  when 
the  will  to  execute  them  is  wanting  and  how  much 
larger  were  national  than  state  issues. 

Congress  assembled  in  March  and,  in  accord 
with  the  senate's  unwritten  mandate,  he  found 
himself  condemned  to  silence  in  that  chamber  for 
the  entire  session.  He  was  received,  however,  with 
more  attention  than  was  usually  tendered  to  a  new 
senator,  and  one  so  young. 

His  indomitable  struggle  and  final  success  had 
been  observed  and  heralded  in  the  East  and  South. 
Everything  transpiring  in  that  far  California,  near 
the  dying  sun,  was  of  more  than  fleeting  interest  to 
the  older  commonwealths.  The  rumor  that  he  had 
dictated  the  election  of  his  colleague  and  brought 
him  "to  Washington  in  chains"  was  piquant  and 
fruitful  of  comment.  Especially  the  few  Repub 
lican  senators  who  represented  the  beginnings  of 
that  patriotic  organization  took  him  to  their  hearts. 
They  had  been  Democrats  or  Whigs  before  aposta- 
sising.  This  young  man  of  serious  demeanor  and 
plebeian  Northern  stock  had  a  future,  and  in  the 
159 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

portentous  events  that  the  wise  felt  impending, 
what  might  he  not  do,  perhaps  at  their  side  ?  Wil 
son  was  a  shoemaker ;  Johnson  a  tailor.  Both  were 
then  senators  and  one  subsequently  became  Vice- 
president  and  the  other  President  of  the  United 
States.  Still,  these  were  the  rare,  unique  excep 
tions.  No  one  except  of  superlative  birth  and 
breeding,  was  considered  eligible.  We  have  changed 
all  that,  let  us  hope,  for  the  better. 

Broderick  was  the  first  senator  sprung  from  the 
masses,  far  more  distinctly  so  than  Johnson  and 
Wilson,  and  his  personality  was  infinitely  more 
commanding.  If  it  be  asked  why  then  did  they 
advance  higher,  I  will  reply  that  they  lived,  but 
he  died. 

He  was  born  in  the  capital  and  the  Washing- 
tonians  celebrated  the  coming  of  "their  senator " 
with  Eoman  freedom.  I  am  not  aware  that  they 
have  since  had  an  opportunity  to  repeat  the  fes 
tival.  But  Gwin  had  friends,  sage  and  astute 
friends,  who  had  moved  in  the  changing  political 
currents  of  the  nation's  capital  for  years,  and  who, 
above  all,  were  known  to  the  President.  Broder 
ick 's  reception  by  Buchanan  was  not  cordial;  as  he 
said  after  his  first  visit:  "It  was  cold  without, 
but  icy  within."  The  polished  old  bachelor,  who 
preferred  knee  buckles  to  breeches  and  a  powdered 
wig  to  nature's  covering,  was  not  impelled  toward 
the  stern,  haughty  young  senator,  who,  with  West- 
160 


WASHINGTON 

ern  brusqueness  demanded,  rather  than  requested, 
presidential  favors. 

It  was  rumored  and  believed,  both  in  California 
and  Washington  that  Broderick  had  promised  more 
persons  than  there  were  positions.  The  names  of 
three  individuals  who  had  been  assured  by  him  of 
succession  to  the  same  office,  were  uttered  aloud  so 
that  all  could  hear.  Yet  only  one  could  win. 
Doubtless  it  was  true.  He  may  have  followed  the 
precept  of  Euripides: 

Be  just;  unless  a  kingdom  tempts,  to  break  the  laws, 
For  Sovereign  power  alone  can  justify  the  cause. 

When  next  Broderick  visited  the  White  House 
and  suggested  a  certain  appointment  he  was  told 
by  the  President  that  it  would  be  made  provided 
the  senator  would  submit  the  application,  in  writ 
ing,  with  his  signature.  Broderick  asked  if  this 
had  hitherto  been  the  rule.  Buchanan  said  it  had 
never  been  practiced  by  any  of  his  predecessors,  but 
he  chose  to  establish  the  innovation  for  his  own 
protection  and  the  service  of  the  state.  He  added 
that  Broderick  was  the  first  man  of  whom  he  asked 
this  pledge,  but  that,  of  course,  it  would  be  ap 
plicable  to  every  member  of  congress.  Broderick  left 
the  White  House  in  anger  and  fury.  He  saw  too 
clearly  the  whence  and  why  this  unparalleled  stain 
on  the  word  of  representatives  of  the  nation,  and 
recognized  the  source  which  had  inspired  the  docile 
brain  of  America 's  chief.  To  checkmate  him,  Gwin 
161 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

and  his  friends  had  invoked  a  radical  alteration  of 
the  customs  and  courtesies  existing  between  Presi 
dent  and  Congress  since  the  foundation  of  the 
republic ! 

This  condition,  as  then  instituted,  remains  unal 
tered,  and  is  just  and  equitable ;  but  it  first  sprang 
from  the  fertile  brain  of  Broderick's  enemies.  He 
repaired  to  the  White  House  again  and  again,  but 
was  met  by  the  placid  obstinacy  of  the  President. 

There  was  a  legend  current,  which  may  be  apoc 
ryphal,  that  after  leaving  the  President  on  his  last 
visit  Broderick  stood  on  the  steps  of  the  White 
House  enclosure,  facing  Lafayette  Park,  and  de 
nounced  Buchanan  in  language  more  picturesque 
than  polite.  Like  his  friend,  Judge  Field,  he  pos 
sessed  a  superlative  vocabulary  of  adjectival  exple 
tives.  He  never  again  entered  the  portals  of  the 
executive  mansion,  and  he  never  again  asked  a 
favor  of  the  President.  The  latter  made  his  Cali 
fornia  appointments  leisurely  and  with  deliberation. 
Scarce  a  single  one  of  the  federal  horde  could  be 
considered  other  than  an  opponent  of  Broderick. 
In  fact,  Buchanan  out-Gwinned  Gwin  and  displayed 
personal  animosity  to  the  junior  California  senator 
most  conspicuously. 

Broderick  stayed  in  Washington  only  a  few  days 

and  hastened  home  to  engage  in  the  nominations 

and  elections  during  the  summer  and  fall.     The 

convention  was  organized  against  him.    The  nomi- 

162 


WASHINGTON 

nees  were  his  foes,  with  the  solitary  exception  of 
Supreme  Judge  Field,  and  Broderick  had  but  this 
single  success  to  lessen  his  chagrin. 

Field  was  sworn  as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  state  of  California  on  January  1,  1858. 
Judge  Terry  had  become  chief  justice  a  few  months 
earlier,  succeeding  on  the  death  of  the  previous 
incumbent.  Field  and  Terry  thus  sat  side  by  side  on 
the  Supreme  Bench,  the  latter  as  presiding  judge. 
It  is  proper  to  align  this  statement  clearly,  for  it 
tells  us  that  the  two  men  knew  each  other  very 
well,  indeed.  They  were  not  strangers  when  they 
met  and  clashed  years  after,  and  the  knowledge  of 
each  other 's  characteristics  must  have  qualified  their 
actions. 

The  rupture  of  Broderick  with  the  President  was 
not  yet  fully  known  in  California  nor  its  gravity 
appreciated.  Those  of  his  supporters  who  had  an 
ticipated  official  rewards  looked  at  his  empty  hands 
with  equanimity  and  made  little  complaint,  much 
less,  perhaps,  than  they  might  have  been  justified 
in  doing. 

After  all,  there  did  not  appear  to  be  so  much  self 
ishness  as  one  might  have  expected.  The  men  who 
had  fought  his  battles  and  carried  him  to  success 
were  cheerful  and  contented.  He  was  senator,  and 
they  waited  to  see  his  wings  spread  like  others  in 
the  national  halls.  He  was  senator,  and  they  had 
won ;  as  for  the  rest,  it  did  not  matter  much.  Cali- 
163 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

forma  was  gentle,  gracious,  lovely,  abounding,  and 
there  were  many  other  avocations  besides  playing 
gentleman  in  federal  boudoirs.  A  philosophic  for 
titude  under  disappointment  is  not  difficult,  when 
the  disappointment  is  easily  compensated. 

For  the  rest  Broderick  remained  very  quiet,  at 
tending  to  his  personal  interests  that  had  been  ne 
glected  during  his  engrossing  political  campaigns. 
He  was  indebted  quite  largely,  and  most  of  the 
water  lots  that  he  possessed  and  which  were  his 
main  holdings  were  unimproved.  He  filled  some, 
sold  a  few,  and  built  on  others.  They  had  been 
chosen  with  rare  judgment  and  were  rapidly  in 
creasing  in  value,  as  the  city  extended  eastward  into 
the  bay.  The  shallow  mud  flats  were  filled  with 
sand,  wooden  piles  driven  deep  down  to  a  firm 
foundation,  heavy  planks  fastened  to  the  piles,  and 
on  this  superstructure  strong  brick  edifices  were 
constructed.  Streets  led  into  the  waters,  and  the 
quays  advanced  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
westerly  point  of  debarkation  in  the  record  year  of 
1849. 

All  this  promised  to  make  him  a  wealthy  man. 
The  remarkable  purity  of  his  life  and  the  sim 
plicity  of  his  wants  made  his  personal  expenses 
quite  limited.  He  applied  himself  severely  to  a 
careful  reading  of  instructive  works.  He  was  fond 
of  poetry  and  the  contemplative  Shelley  was  his 
favorite.  He  had  a  private,  secluded  apartment, 
164 


WASHINGTON 

where  night  after  night,  he  studied  like  a  school 
boy.  Washington  had  taught  him  his  deficiencies. 

But  he  contributed  largely  to  political  require 
ments  and  assisted  his  friends,  when  asked,  which 
was  infrequently.  Independence  and  self-reliance 
characterized  the  young  men  who  made  the  Cali 
fornia  of  the  fifties.  "Old  Gwin"  was  the  uni 
versal  appellation  of  Senator  Gwin,  and  yet  he 
was  only  fifty-two  when  elected  as  Broderick's  col 
league,  and  he  had  been  distinguished  since  the 
state  was  born.  The  average  age  of  the  arrivals  in 
1849,  when  the  immigration  exceeded  that  of  any 
preceding  or  subsequent  year,  was  twenty-five  years, 
and  1857  was  only  eight  years  later.  The  state  was 
settling  fast.  The  human  tide  that  flowed  in  1848, 
upon  the  gold  discovery,  had  not  yet  ebbed. 
Nearly  every  steamer  from  Panama  brought  a  full 
complement  of  passengers  and  others  came  in  dif 
ferent  ways  over  seas  and  over  lands.  At  first  they 
came  alone,  but  now  they  brought  families,  women, 
children  and  other  relatives,  who  came  to  abide. 
The  fallacy  that  California  was  arid,  barren,  and 
only  good  for  gold  had  vanished.  Cereals  were 
largely  cultivated  the  production  of  fruits  and  wines 
increased,  and  their  quality  improved.  The  sweet 
ness  and  softness  of  summer  life,  under  the  slopes 
of  the  Sierras,  with  atmosphere  anointed  by  the 
balsam  from  the  pines,  enthralled  and  fascinated. 

Cabins  were  substituted  for  tents,  houses  for 
165 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

cabins,  and  towns  for  camps.  Churches  and  school- 
houses  appeared.  The  red  shirt  and  top  boots  dis 
appeared  ;  people  apparelled  themselves  as  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  and  the  custom  of  "a  man  for 
breakfast"  was  abolished.  The  Vigilance  Commit 
tee  in  San  Francisco  not  alone  cleansed  that  city, 
but  distributed  its  moral  medicines  over  the  entire 
state.  Crimes  diminished  markedly,  and  every 
where  the  Vigilance  Committees  serenely  slum 
bered.  The  terrible  remedy  has  never  again  been 
invoked,  showing  how  well  it  slew  the  dragon  then 
rampant — today  an  indistinct  memory. 

Only  a  single  episode  stands  forth  in  the  cam 
paign.  In  replying  to  a  political  communication, 
Broderick  observes,  "I  challenge  my  enemies  to 
produce  a  man  within  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  state  whom  I  ever  deceived  or  to  whom  I  ever 
falsified  my  word."  A  strong  asseveration  which 
would  hardly  issue  from  one  who  had  reason  to  ap 
prehend  the  result.  But  in  the  same  statement 
he  added  that  there  were  no  conditions  whatever  be 
tween  Gwin  and  himself  respecting  the  federal  pat 
ronage.  Which  was  untrue  as  well  as  sacrificing 
of  self,  for  one  whose  bond  he  held  and  who  had 
outwitted  him  at  Washington.  Evidently  he  did 
not  seek  a  rupture  and  was  willing  to  shield  Gwin. 

He  returned  to  Washington  by  Panama  and  was 
in  his  seat  when  the  thirty-fifth  Congress  assem 
bled  in  December,  1857.  He  had  stepped  from  the 
166 


WASHINGTON 

rear  to  the  front,  from  a  local  to  a  national  theatre, 
from  Sacramento  to  Washington.  Grave  and  dan 
gerous  problems  agitated  the  country.  Abraham 
Lincoln,  a  man  of  his  own  type,  was  rising  in  Illi 
nois  and  preparing  for  the  contest  with  Douglas 
in  the  ensuing  year.  The  ferment  among  people 
was  shattering  the  old  aristocracy  and  sending  men 
from  the  ranks  to  become  leaders. 

A  revolutionary  spirit  pervaded  the  land.  The 
political  issues  were  momentous.  The  depreciation 
of  state-bank  currency  rendered  indispensable  a 
change  in  the  monetary  system.  The  building  of 
a  railway  to  connect  the  Atlantic  coast  with  the 
Pacific  slope  was  imperative.  Statutes  to  pre 
serve  public  lands  and  secure  homesteads  for  actual 
settlers  were  demanded.  There  was  open  rebellion 
in  Utah  and  the  situation  in  Kansas  bordered  on 
civil  war.  The  Dred  Scott  decision  lately  promul 
gated  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  had  been 
extensively  circulated  throughout  the  nation  with 
bitter  comments,  denouncing  it  as  the  unrighteous 
judgment  of  a  partisan  tribunal. 

President  Buchanan  referred  in  his  message  to 
these  subjects  and  made  certain  observations  on 
the  Kansas  question  which  at  once  caused  an  ani 
mated  controversy,  continuing  throughout  the  ses 
sion.  The  territorial  legislature  of  Kansas  in  Feb 
ruary,  1857,  passed  an  act  providing  for  the  elec 
tion  of  delegates  in  June  of  the  same  year  to  a 
167 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE   FIFTIES 

convention  to  meet  in  the  following  September  and 
frame  the  state  constitution. 

But  the  legislature  wittingly  omitted  in  this 
act  to  provide  for  the  submission  by  the  convention 
to  the  people  for  ratification  of  any  instrument 
adopted  or  adapted  as  a  constitution  by  them. 
When  the  convention  chosen  in  pursuance  of  this 
provision  assembled  in  September  at  Lecompton, 
Kansas,  it  framed  a  state  constitution. 

One  article  of  this  instrument  provided  that  only 
that  portion  of  the  document  which  embraced  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  new  state  should  be  ad 
mitted  to  the  Union  "with  or  without  slavery" 
should  be  referred  to  the  populace  for  rejection  or 
ratification.  A  second  article  largely  nullified  in 
advance  whatever  decision  might  be  given  by  the 
people  by  inserting  in  a  schedule  the  provision  that 
the  rights  of  property  in  slaves  already  within  the 
confines  of  the  territory  should  be  recognized. 

This  nullifying  clause  and  the  failure  to  refer 
the  entire  constitution  instead  of  one  or  two  quali 
fying  sections  to  the  people  for  their  action,  added 
to  the  lack  of  authority  in  the  legislature  to  call 
the  convention  which  framed  the  constitution, 
caused  Stephen  A.  Douglas  intense  chagrin  and 
disappointment. 

Douglas  was  the  leader  of  the  national  Democ 
racy  and  had  been  the  principal  opponent  of  Bu- 
168 


WASHINGTON 

chanan  for  the  presidential  nomination  in  the  last 
national  Democratic  convention. 

Not  then  a  pronounced  anti-slavery  advocate,  he 
resolved  to  oppose  the  admission  of  Kansas  with 
that  constitution.  It  was  difficult  for  Northern 
Democrats,  whose  life-long  political  associates  from 
the  South  had  dwelt  with  them  in  complete  con 
cord,  to  sever  the  ancient  ties  without  regret  and 
with  reluctance. 

To  Broderick  it  came  easier.  A  New  York  City 
man  by  training,  though  a  native  of  Washington, 
he  had  the  natural  objection  of  those  who  had 
worked  for  a  living  to  the  existence  of  servile  labor, 
and  he  objected  still  more  to  contemplate  the 
exigency  of  toiling  side  by  side  with  black  men, 
themselves  slaves.  He  remembered  that  on  the 
same  question  the  miners  in  1849,  coming  from 
all  quarters  of  the  globe,  sent  up  from  the  gold- 
fields  a  resonant  shout,  "No  slaves  nor  fugitive  la 
bor  in  California!"  He  remembered  also  that 
Gwin,  then  a  member  of  the  California  Constitu 
tional  Convention,  had  silently  bowed  his  head  to 
this  insistent  roar  and  uttered  no  objection.  And 
now  this  same  Gwin  was  advocating  slavery  in  a 
new  state,  applying  for  admission  into  the  Union 
under  conditions  precisely  analogous  to  those  that 
obtained  in  California  nine  years  earlier.  It  was 
true  that  he  was  then  only  an  unknown  member 
of  the  convention,  while  now  he  represented  his 
169 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

state  in  the  Senate.  The  one  was  local,  the  other 
national.  Gwin  and  Broderick  were  not  so  far 
apart  in  ideals.  Broderick  told  Sickles  in  1849, 
when  leaving  New  York  for  that  unknown  land 
whose  strands  were  laved  by  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific,  "I  will  never  return  unless  as  United 
States  senator. "  Gwin  also  when  departing  from 
Washington  for  the  Land  of  Hope  the  same  year, 
said  to  Douglas,  "I  will  be  back  in  a  year  as  sena 
tor.  ' '  Both  succeeded,  Gwin  having  won  within  his 
year.  Gwin  but  followed  where  his  people  led.  He 
was  not  a  prophet,  only  a  devotee. 

It  was  as  natural  for  Broderick  to  oppose  slavery 
as  to  breathe.  For  he  breathed  the  air  of  freedom. 
At  this  period  few  foresaw  the  future ;  certainly  not 
the  Northern  element.  Neither  did  Broderick; 
but  his  resolute,  undaunted  character  refused  com 
pliance  and  repelled  seduction.  He  therefore  al 
lied  himself  at  once  with  Douglas,  the  two  with 
one  other,  Stuart  from  Michigan,  forming  the 
Democratic  trio  of  senators  who  originated  the  war 
upon  slavery.  In  December  he  pronounced  his 
first  discourse  in  the  Senate.  He  opposed  the 
Lecompton  constitution  and  boldly  confronted  the 
President  and  the  Democratic  majority  of  the  Sen 
ate.  He  severely  criticised  Buchanan  for  insist 
ing  that  the  sovereign  people  of  Kansas  should 
accept  the  decision  of  a  convention  clearly  unauthor 
ized  by  any  valid  law,  and  no  less  emphatically 
170 


WASHINGTON 

condemned  the  convention  itself.  It  is  interesting 
to  peruse  a  fragment  of  this  address: 

''As  I  am  the  only  senator,  I  believe,  on  this  side 
of  the  house  who  feels  disposed  with  the  senator 
from  Illinois  and  the  senator  from  Michigan  to 
oppose  the  Lecompton  constitution,  I  should  like 
before  the  adjournment  of  the  Senate  today  to  be 
heard  for  a  very  few  minutes  on  this  question. 

"It  is  the  first  time  that  a  President  of  the 
United  States  ever  stepped  down  from  the  exalted 
position  he  held  and  attempted  to  coerce  the  people 
into  a  base  submission  to  the  will  of  an  illegal  body 
of  men. 

"I  am  very  sorry  that  I  am  placed  in  the  un 
fortunate  position  of  disagreeing  with  my  party 
on  this  question,  for  I  believe  that  I  rendered  as 
much  service  in  my  way  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Bu 
chanan  as  any  gentleman  on  this  floor.  He  was  my 
choice  before  the  convention  at  Chicago  met.  I 
considered  him  the  most  available  and  most  con 
servative  candidate  that  could  be  presented  to  the 
American  people  for  election  to  the  presidency, 
and  for  that  reason  I  supported  him.  I  regret  very 
much  that  I  am  compelled  to  differ  with  him  on 
this  question ;  but,  sir,  I  intend  to  hold  him  respon 
sible  for  it. 

"I  do  not  intend  because  I  am  a  member  of  the 
Democratic  party  to  permit  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  who  has  been  elected  by  that  party 
171 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

to  create  civil  war  in  the  United  States.  The  only 
thing  that  has  astonished  me  in  this  whole  matter 
is  the  forbearance  of  the  people  of  Kansas.  If 
they  had  taken  the  delegates  to  the  Lecompton 
convention  and  flogged  them,  or  cut  their  ears  off, 
and  driven  them  out  of  the  country,  I  would  have 
applauded  them  for  the  act.  I  have  spoken  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  myself  right  upon  this  ques 
tion. 

"I  feel  embarrassed,  very  much  embarrassed,  in 
doing  so,  because  this  is  the  first  time  I  have  ever 
attempted  to  address  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States." 

From  its  lack  of  symmetry  it  is  very  clear  that 
he  did  not  carefully  prepare  this  speech,  but 
it  evinces  his  forthright  frankness  and  detestation, 
almost  contempt  for  the  President.  He  did  not 
expect  or  apparently  desire  a  reconciliation.  Sev 
eral  weeks  later,  when  the  same  envenomed  subject 
was  again  discussed  in  the  Senate,  he  was  quite 
conspicuous  in  making  motions  and  short  speeches. 
For  awhile  he  seems  to  have  been  in  complete 
charge  of  the  business  on  the  part  of  the  minority, 
especially  including  filibustering  tactics,  which 
suited  the  present  purpose  of  his  faction. 

Again  in  March  he  delivered  a  set  address,  evin 
cing  careful  study  and  reflection.  He  gave  a  clear, 
connected,  Attic  description  of  slavery  enactments 
of  the  congress  from  the  Missouri  Compromise 
172 


WASHINGTON 

in  1820,  citing  copiously  from  the  utterances  of 
eminent  champions  on  either  side,  up  to  the  meas 
ure  then  under  debate.  I  shall  quote  only  briefly. 
Speaking  of  slavery  and  of  the  intent  of  the  bill 
to  give  the  territories  an  option  on  slavery,  he 
said :  ' '  How  foolish  for  the  South  to  hope  to  con 
tend  with  success  in  such  an  encounter.  Slavery 
is  old,  decrepit  and  consumptive ;  freedom  is  young, 
strong  and  vigorous.  The  one  is  naturally  station 
ary  and  loves  ease;  the  other  is  migrating  and  en 
terprising."  It  would  be  difficult  even  now,  fifty 
years  after  the  event,  to  phrase  the  conditions 
more  accurately.  Continuing,  he  said : 

' t  They  say  cotton  is  king !  No,  sir,  gold  is  king. 
I  represent  a  state  where  labor  is  honorable ;  where 
the  judge  has  left  his  bench,  the  lawyer  and  doctor 
their  offices,  and  the  clergyman  his  pulpit,  for  the 
purpose  of  delving  in  the  earth;  where  no  station 
is  so  high  and  no  position  so  great  that  its  occupant 
is  not  proud  to  boast  that  he  labored  with  his  own 
hands.  There  is  no  state  in  the  Union,  no  place 
on  earth,  where  labor  is  so  honored  and  so  well 
rewarded ;  no  time  and  no  place  since  the  Almighty 
doomed  the  sons  of  Adam  to  toil,  where  the  curse, 
if  it  be  a  curse,  rests  so  lightly  as  now  on  the  people 
of  California." 

A  Southern  senator  had  stigmatized  Northern 
laborers  as  "mudsills,"  an  expression  that  was  the 
ultimate  cause  of  more  injury  to  their  doctrines 
173 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

than  fifty  regiments  of  federal  troops,  for  it  an 
gered  and  solidified  the  Northern  masses. 

Broderick  quoted  this  previous  observation  and 
continued:  "I  suppose  the  senator  from  South 
Carolina  did  not  intend  to  be  personal  in  his  re 
marks  to  any  of  his  peers  upon  the  floor.  If  I  had 
thought  so  I  would  have  noticed  them  at  the  time. 
I  am,  sir,  with  one  exception,  the  youngest  in  years 
of  the  senators  upon  this  floor.  It  is  not  long  since 
I  served  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years  at  one  of 
the  most  laborious  trades  pursued  by  man,  a  trade 
that  from  its  nature  devotes  its  followers  to 
thought,  but  debars  him  from  conversation.  I 
would  not  have  alluded  to  this  if  it  were  not  for 
the  remarks  of  the  senator  from  South  Carolina, 
and  that  thousands  who  know  that  I  am  the  son 
of  an  artisan  and  have  been  a  mechanic  would  feel 
disappointed  in  me  if  I  did  not  reply  to  him. 
I  am  not  proud  of  this.  I  am  sorry  it  is  true.  I 
would  that  I  could  have  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of 
life  in  my  boyhood  days,  but  they  were  denied  to 
me.  I  say  this  with  pain.  I  have  not  the  admira 
tion  for  the  men  of  that  class  from  whence  I 
sprang  that  might  be  expected;  they  submit  too 
tamely  to  oppression,  and  are  too  prone  to  neglect 
their  rights  and  duties  as  citizens.  But,  sir,  the 
class  of  society  to  whose  toil  I  was  born,  under  our 
form  of  government,  will  control  the  destinies  of 
this  nation.  If  I  were  inclined  to  forget  my  con- 
174 


WASHINGTON 

nection  with  them,  or  to  deny  that  I  sprang  from 
them,  this  chamber  would  not  be  the  place  in  which 
I  could  do  either.  While  I  hold  a  seat  here,  I  have 
but  to  look  at  the  beautiful  capitals  adorning  the 
pilasters  that  support  the  roof  to  be  reminded  of 
my  father's  talent  and  handiwork. 

"I  left  the  scenes  of  my  youth  and  manhood 
for  the  far  West  because  I  was  tired  of  the 
struggles  and  the  jealousies  of  men  of  my  class, 
who  could  not  understand  why  one  of  their  fellows 
should  seek  to  elevate  his  position  above  the  com 
mon  level.  I  made  my  new  abode  among  strang 
ers,  where  labor  is  honored.  I  had  left  without 
regret.  There  remained  no  tie  of  blood  to  bind 
me  to  any  being  in  existence.  If  I  fell  in  the 
struggle  for  reputation  and  fortune  there  was  no 
relative  on  earth  to  mourn  my  fall. 

''The  people  of  California  elevated  me  to  the 
highest  office  within  their  gift.  My  election  was 
not  the  result  of  an  accident.  For  years  I  had  to 
struggle,  often  seeing  the  goal  of  my  ambition  with 
in  my  reach ;  it  was  again  and  again  taken  from  me 
by  men  of  my  own  class.  I  had  not  only  them 
to  contend  with,  but  almost  the  entire  partisan 
press  of  my  state  was  subsidized  by  government 
money  and  patronage  to  oppose  my  election.  I 
sincerely  hope,  sir,  the  time  will  come  when  such 
speeches  as  that  from  the  senator  from  South  Caro 
lina  will  be  considered  a  lesson  to  the  laborers  of  the 
175 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

nation. ' '  He  concluded  in  these  words :  ''I  hope 
in  mercy,  sir,  to  the  boasted  intelligence  of  this 
age,  the  historian,  when  writing  a  history  of  these 
times,  will  ascribe  this  attempt  of  the  Executive 
to  force  this  constitution  upon  an  unwilling  people 
to  the  fading  intellect,  the  petulant  passion  and 
trembling  dotage  of  an  old  man  on  the  verge  of 
the  grave." 

This  speech  made  Broderick  a  marked  man.  It 
was  published  in  full  by  several  potent  Eastern 
journals  and  by  part  of  the  California  press.  The 
allusion  by  the  son,  standing  erect  among  his 
brother  senators  in  the  stately  hall,  to  his  father's 
genius  exhibited  aloft  on  the  carven  entablature, 
created  sympathetic  admiration,  and  the  declara 
tion  that  no  kindred  blood  flowed  in  the  veins  of 
any  living  being  caused  a  sentiment  of  kindly  re 
spect  for  this  lonely  figure  from  the  Pacific  shores. 

The  words  in  which  he  refers  to  Buchanan  so 
contumeliously  were  the  first  public  expression  of 
his  opinions.  Several  writers  have  stated  that 
Broderick  denounced  the  President  a  year  previous 
but  that  is  an  error.  He  guarded  silence  in  the 
Senate  as  custom  ordains  during  the  first  session 
in  March,  1857,  and  in  fact  remained  only  about 
six  weeks  in  Washington  on  that  occasion.  In  De 
cember,  1857,  he  censured  the  Executive  for  his 
course  in  the  Lecompton  issue,  but  only  now,  in 
March,  1858,  a  year  after  his  accession,  did  he  an- 
176 


WASHINGTON 

nounce  their  relations  in  these  bitter  phrases.  Brod- 
erick  had  ample  provocation  long  before,  as  far  as 
patronage  was  in  question,  for  it  is  not  in  evidence 
that  Buchanan  gave  him  a  single  appointment 
nor  is  it  in  evidence  that  he  asked  for  a  single 
one.  Nevertheless,  with  true  dignity,  he  felt  that 
to  embroil  himself  with  party  and  President  for 
a  few  trifling  offices  would  neither  be  judicious 
nor  creditable,  and  when  he  did  make  the  issue  it 
was  on  a  grave  and  national  question  from  which 
he  could  not  recede,  and  wherein  his  decision 
gained  him  the  plaudits  of  the  entire  North.  Even 
toward  GAVHI,  who  was  placidly  fattening  on  the 
official  provender  that  he  had  filched,  I  can  dis 
cover  no  expression  of  rancor  nor  resentment.  All 
through  this  session,  when  Broderick  alludes  to  his 
colleague,  it  is  pleasantly  and  with  decorum.  In 
deed,  most  of  his  allusions  refer  to  Gwin  as  absent 
when  measures  affecting  their  state  were  under 
discussion.  The  latter  was  not  very  assiduous, 
while  Broderick  never  missed  a  session  nor  a  com 
mittee  meeting.  Gwin  rather  carped  at  Broder 
ick  's  oratorical  accomplishments,  while  the  latter 
retorted  that  whenever  the  former  commenced  to 
read  one  of  his  dreary  exhortations,  the  chamber 
was  deserted  by  all  save  the  speaker,  Broderick  and 
one  more  senator.  Broderick  remained  through 
courtesy  and  the  other  man  through  pity.  I  must 
again  destroy  the  fallacy  that  George  Wilkes  wrote 
177 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

this  speech  or  any  other  speech  for  Broderick,  or 
that  he  was  either  his  Mentor  or  his  Mephistopheles. 
Can  anyone  for  a  moment  surmise  that  Wilkes 
wrote  that  simple  passage  about  his  father,  or  that 
solemn  statement  of  his  loneliness  amid  countless 
millions  ?  The  lack  of  polish  and  rhetoric  are  mani 
fest  in  all  Broderick 's  public  utterances,  which 
Wilkes  would  not  have  omitted;  but  the  sincerity, 
earnestness  and  clear,  direct  statement  belong  to  the 
man,  and  the  worldly  Wilkes  could  not  have  evolved 
them.  This  Wilkes  cult  was  formulated  by  a  writer 
not  overly  just  to  Broderick  and  adopted  by  sub 
sequent  historians  without  sufficient  investigation. 
Those  who  read  with  me  do  not  require  the  convic 
tion  that  if  ever  there  was  a  bold,  self-reliant,  ven 
turesome  man,  it  was  Broderick;  one  of  those  who 
do  not  need  nor  seek  advice  or  inspiration.  What 
such  men  really  lack  is  not  one  to  guide  their  foot 
steps,  but  to  keep  them  still.  They  want  not  so 
much  propulsion  as  a  brake. 

In  this  work  I  have  endeavored  to  seek  original 
sources  of  information.  I  have  accepted  no  state 
ment,  even  if  printed,  without  cognate  and  com 
petent  authority.  I  am  writing  history,  not  ro 
mance  nor  fiction.  I  have  not  read  a  single  volume 
treating  of  these  troublous  times  that  does  not  dis 
play  bias  and  imperfect  knowledge.  For  the  reason 
that  they  were  written  either  by  participants, 
spectators  or  contemporaries.  History,  be  it  said, 
178 


at. 


WASHINGTON 

however  strange,  is  best  written  after  all  the  actors 
are  dead. 

The  project  of  a  railway  between  the  two  oceans 
was  conceived  at  an  early  epoch,  and  many  bills 
in  relation  thereto  were  presented  to  Congress.  At 
this  session  several  distinct  routes  were  proposed 
and  Broderick  energetically  advocated  the  41st 
parallel  as  the  best  and  most  central  location. 
There  were  others  who  advocated  more  northerly 
and  southerly  lines  and  no  decision  was  reached. 

In  one  day,  by  his  promptness  of  action,  he 
secured  the  consideration  and  passage  of  three 
important  measures  affecting  California. 

Because  of  the  increased  cost  of  living  in  early 
California  days,  the  federal  officials  were  allowed 
larger  salaries  than  in  other  states.  Broderick  con 
tended  that  household  expenses  had  decreased  to  a 
normal  condition  and  therefore  the  government 
should  lessen  its  payments. 

Inasmuch  as  no  one  of  the  officials  were  his 
appointees  or  friends,  that  was  a  labor  of  love 
as  well  as  economy,  and  he  was  vigilant  in  examin 
ing  appropriation  and  deficiency  bills.  There  was 
no  gainsaying  this  position,  and  he  relentlessly 
decimated  the  perquisites  of  G-win's  adherents 
without  much  difficulty,  for  the  latter  frequented 
the  Senate  but  seldom. 

The  wits  of  Congress  might  have  said,  follow- 
179 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

ing  those  of  Rome,  that  the  name  of  one  California 
senator  was  David  and  the  other  Broderick. 

Nevertheless,  at  a  certain  sitting,  Gwin  was  de 
cidedly  present,  for  he  presented  to  the  Senate 
resolutions  of  the  California  legislature  instructing 
their  two  senators  to  vote  for  the  Lecompton  con 
stitution.  The  resolutions  were  read,  and  Broder 
ick  immediately  said  that  "the  resolutions  intro 
duced  by  my  colleague  will  have  no  influence  upon 
my  action  here,  now,  or  in  the  future.  I  am  satis 
fied  that  four-fifths  of  the  people  of  California  re 
pudiate  the  Lecompton  fraud. 

"I  shall  respect  the  wishes  of  the  people  and 
pay  no  respect  to  the  resolutions  passed  by  a  legis 
lature  not  representing  the  opinions  of  the  people 
of  California.  I  merely  say  this  now  for  the  pur 
pose  of  placing  myself  on  the  record. ' '  Of  course 
this  was  not  the  legislature  that  elected  Gwin  and 
himself,  but  a  new  body. 

Fremont,  the  first  senator  from  California,  who 
had  been  the  year  before  the  first  nominee  for  the 
presidency  of  the  newly  created  Republican  party, 
had  presented  to  Congress  claims  for  services  while 
engaged  in  the  Mexican  War.  Some  moneys  had 
been  paid  Fremont,  but  for  the  moiety  he  had  been 
vainly  pleading  session  after  session.  It  illus 
trates  the  tendency  of  Broderick 's  political 
views  to  learn  that,  with  his  usual  diligence  and 
earnestness,  he  advocated  a  settlement  and  payment 
to  this  Republican,  and  finally  succeeded. 
180 


CHAPTER  X 

DISSENSION 

After  the  adjournment  in  June,  1858,  Broderick 
returned  directly  home.  He  found  that  his  repu 
tation  had  increased  and  so  had  the  number  of  his 
enemies. 

The  rupture  with  the  administration  was  pal 
pable  and  his  anti-slavery  sympathies  were  equally 
clear.  Californians  were  inclined  to  think  him 
premature  and  precipitate.  Even  the  Northerners 
doubted  the  justice  of  his  positive  declarations, 
and  as  for  his  Southern  friends,  their  numbers  had 
diminished. 

The  first  sound  or  sight  of  war  is  on  the  firing 
line,  and  Broderick  in  Congress  saw  farther  than 
the  inhabitants  of  distant  California.  Unable  to 
reward  his  friends,  censured  by  those  whose  judg 
ment  he  valued,  and  compelled  to  differ  with  an  or 
ganization  to  which  he  had  been  always  loyal  and 
devoted,  his  position  was  excessively  difficult  and 
disagreeable.  He  could  not  proclaim  what  he 
feared  and  foresaw,  for  no  one  would  credit  him. 
To  one  friend,  and  this  man  a  Republican,  he  con 
fided  his  belief  that  "the  Southerners  would  stop 
at  nothing,  even  to  the  disruption  of  the  Union." 
181 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

This  statement  was  expressed  three  years  before 
the  war.  Not  many  Northern  men  possessed  the 
same  prescience. 

Broderick  kept  his  soul  in  patience,  attended  to 
his  private  affairs,  which  were  prosperous,  quali 
fied  for  the  bar  and,  after  a  detention  of  only  three 
months,  left  for  Washington. 

But,  prior  to  his  departure,  there  occurred  in 
August  of  the  same  year  one  of  those  events  that 
are  never  forgotten,  but  which,  on  the  contrary, 
recall  themselves,  accompanying  distrust  and  fore 
boding. 

W.  I.  Ferguson,  from  Pennsylvania  and  Illinois, 
was  a  member  of  the  California  Senate,  represent 
ing  Sacramento.  He  served  in  the  legislature  for 
several  years,  beginning  like  Baker  as  a  member 
of  the  Native  American  party,  and  subsequently 
reverting  again  to  the  Democracy.  He  voted  for 
Broderick  at  his  election  and  was  the  intermediary 
who  arranged  the  midnight  interview  between 
Gwin  and  Broderick  on  the  evening  preceding  the 
former's  selection  by  the  caucus.  To  Ferguson  had 
been  confided  the  custody  of  the  personal  letter 
from  Gwin  to  Broderick  renouncing  all  claim  to 
patronage,  which  was  the  price  of  Gwin's  elevation. 
The  secret  of  this  document's  existence  and  the 
identity  of  its  possessor  must  have  been  known  to 
but  very  few.  It  carried  death  amid  its  pages. 

During  the  Congressional  session  of  1858,  as  I 
182 


DISSENSION 

have  already  indicated,  Broderick's  position  with 
reference  to  party  and  President  had  been  clearly 
denned.  Ferguson,  a  brilliant  young  attorney 
with  Northern  antecedents  and  predilections,  came 
to  the  aid  of  Broderick  and  Douglas.  In  an  elo 
quent  and  effective  harangue  he  declared  his  faith 
in  and  conversion  to  their  doctrines,  and  bitterly 
condemned  Buchanan.  The  address  delivered  in 
the  state  Senate  made  Ferguson  a  marked  man. 

At  San  Francisco  a  few  months  afterwards, 
he  became  involved  in  a  trivial  political  dis 
pute  with  a  Southern  gentleman,  who  promptly 
challenged  him.  Ferguson  was  shot  in  the  duel 
that  ensued  and  died  after  suffering  the  torture 
of  having  a  leg  amputated.  It  was  a  warning  to 
Broderick,  Baker  and  other  Northern  men.  Events 
were  hastening.  The  national  differences  were 
leavening  California,  and  the  leaders  of  the  North 
were  being  struck  down.  This  is  what  Baker  said 
in  his  eulogy  on  Ferguson — the  same  immortal 
Baker  who,  a  year  later,  delivered  the  pane 
gyric  over  a  more  illustrious  victim:  "He  stood 
four  fires  at  a  distance  of  scarcely  twenty  feet 
with  a  conviction  that  there  was  a  strong  de 
termination  to  take  his  life — that  the  matter 
should  be  carried  to  extremity— and  that,  too,  when 
until  the  day  before,  he  had  never  fired  a  pistol  in 
his  life."  Ferguson's  successful  antagonist  was  a 
practised  duellist.  The  night  following  Ferguson's 
183 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

death  his  office  desk  was  found  broken  open  and  the 
contents  scattered. 

Broderick  averred  the  next  year,  when  canvassing 
the  state,  that  Ferguson's  desk  was  rifled  with  the 
hope  of  securing  possession  of  the  "scarlet  letter," 
and  added  that  Ferguson,  on  his  death-bed,  intrusted 
the  letter  to  General  Estill,  who  kept  it  in  secrecy 
until  restored  to  Broderick.  This  was  the  second 
Northern  statesman  killed  in  a  duel  with  a  South 
erner.  There  was  a  sentiment  that  it  was  too  much 
like  skill  against  ignorance,  practical  training 
against  its  absence.  It  was  fate  that  the  element 
of  equality  was  lacking.  The  civilian  is  no  fair 
match  for  the  soldier  when  the  former  has  not 
been  trained  to  the  use  of  arms ;  nor,  although  his 
courage  is  high  and  he  may  have  a  profound  con 
viction  that  he  is  right,  will  the  contest  be  there 
fore  equal  and  just. 

To  inaugurate  and  test  the  first  line  of  coaches 
from  the  Pacific,  Broderick  journeyed  by  land  to 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  at  that  time  the  railway's 
western  terminal.  A  boat-load  of  faithful  friends 
accompanied  him  to  Benicia  where  he  took  stage 
for  the  East,  after  a  banquet,  reception,  addresses 
and  salutes.  After  all  he  was  California's  senator 
and  typically  represented  the  state. 

It  shows  how  his  fame  was  enlarging  to  read  that 
the  mayor  and  common  council,  of  Salt  Lake  City 
waited  upon  and  tendered  him  its  hospitality.  He 
184 


DISSENSION 

was  assigned  special  apartments  and  visited  by 
many  distinguished  citizens,  including  Brigham 
Young  and  other  Mormon  church  dignitaries.  He 
was  told  that  he  was  the  only  man  from  the  West 
in  whom  they  trusted  and  he  was  implored  to  aid 
and  protect  the  people  and  territory  of  Utah,  and  to 
act  as  their  friend  and  representative  in  Congress. 
The  journey  to  St.  Joseph  by  stage  coach  took 
forty-seven  days  including  a  stay  of  a  week  in  Salt 
Lake.  Going  down  a  steep  mountain  grade  the 
vehicle  upset,  fracturing  one  of  Broderick's  ribs, 
and  he  arrived  with  frost-bitten  feet  and  generally 
debilitated.  In  those  early  staging  days  across  the 
plains,  people  did  not  know  how  to  guard  against 
the  asperities  of  the  weather  and  Broderick  nearly 
became  a  victim  to  inexperience.  Still  he  assisted 
to  open  this  great  overland  thoroughfare,  the  suc 
cess  of  which  was  of  importance  to  California 's  de 
velopment,  and,  partially  recovered,  was  present  in 
Washington  at  the  December  overture  of  Con 
gress. 

When  the  committees  were  announced  he  dis 
covered  that  his  name  had  been  dropped  from 
the  important  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  of 
which  he  had  been  a  member  since  his  accession. 

This  was  done  because  he  was  known  to  strongly 
favor  a  Pacific  railway.  The  Southern  element, 
who  controlled  Congress  and  the  President,  was 
185 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

indisposed  to  such  a  project,  if  not,  indeed,  posi 
tively  hostile. 

While  the  Southerners  hoped  in  the  conflict 
which  they  knew  was  inevitable — to  retain  Califor 
nia  as  a  slave  state — still  the  railway's  Eastern 
terminus  would  be  among  the  Western  middle 
states,  which  were  free  soil;  hence  they  preferred 
that  there  should  be  no  road.  Moreover,  as  devel 
oped  during  the  discussion,  they  wished  any  pro 
jected  route  to  be  South  of  parallel  36°  30' — that 
line  being  the  accepted  division  between  slavery 
and  freedom  in  the  extreme  Western  states  and  ter 
ritories.  The  Northern  advocates,  however,  de 
manded  the  forty-first  parallel  or  neighboring 
degrees.  The  more  southerly  line  would  be  through 
Texas  and  touch  California  at  its  extreme  south 
eastern  point.  From  there  San  Francisco  was 
hundreds  of  miles  distant.  If  the  government  ren 
dered  assistance  it  was  contemplated  to  the  state 
line  only,  so  this  southern  railway  would  have  to 
be  extended  north  for  500  miles  to  San  Francisco 
without  federal  subsidies.  All  these  various  pro 
jected  railways  are  now  completed,  but  it  was  very 
different  fifty  years  past.  For  this  36°  30'  meant, 
if  completed,  a  railway  within  Southern  lines.  If 
not  constructed,  so  much  the  better;  and  the  more 
obstructions  the  less  possibility. 

Broderick  had  studied  existing  conditions  care 
fully.  He  had  made  the  arduous  and  fatiguing 
186 


DISSENSION 

stage  journey  of  forty  days  to  familiarize  himself 
with,  the  country.  Therefore,  to  minimize  his 
influence  he  was  deprived  of  a  place  on  this  com 
mittee,  although  California  was  most  vitally  inter 
ested  and  he  himself,  perhaps,  the  best  informed 
man  in  Congress  on  this  absorbing  question  of  a 
railway  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

But  the  statesmen  who  represented  the  South  did 
not  do  things  by  halves.  Gwin  introduced  a  rail 
way  measure  early  in  the  session,  read  a  two  hours ' 
lecture  to  the  Senate,  and  then — no  more. 

His  bill  designated  the  line  of  36°  30'.  He  rarely 
attended  the  earnest  and  intelligent  as  well  as 
numerous  debates.  Broderick  complains  more  than 
once  that  his  colleague's  absence  left  him  without 
assistance.  Indeed,  on  the  approach  of  the  final 
vote,  he  directly  asked  Gwin  if  he  was  in  favor 
of  the  measure  that  he  had  himself  presented,  and 
the  latter  did  not  reply.  The  pity  of  it  was  that 
Gwin  sacrificed  his  state  to  his  Southern  friends 
and  affiliations.  Not  that  he  loved  California  less, 
but  he  loved  the  South  more.  The  measure  finally 
passed  the  Senate  with  no  special  parallel  indi 
cated,  and  perished  in  the  House. 

The  legislature  elected  in  California  this  year 
was  anti-Broderick.  The  state  and  federal  powers 
were  in  perfect  and  consistent  alignment  against 
him.  Every  state  and  federal  officeholder  was  his 
foe,  and  his  friends  did  not  realize  the  underlying 
187 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

cause.  Only  himself,  alone  at  Washington,  and  his 
enemies  knew  and  forecasted  the  future.  Broder 
ick 's  intellectual  sagacity  surpassed  even  that  of 
Douglas  with  all  the  latter 's  years  of  political  knowl 
edge,  for  he  would  not  or  could  not  observe  the 
red  light  on  the  horizon  increase  in  its  balefulness 
of  unhappy  portent. 

This  legislature  condemned  Broderick  by  reso 
lution  for  not  complying  with  the  instructions  of 
its  predecessor  relative  to  the  Lecompton  constitu 
tion  and  stigmatized  his  words  applied  in  the 
Senate  to  the  President  as  a  disgrace  and  humilia 
tion  to  the  nation  and  people.  I  have  related  else 
where  both  the  resolutions  of  the  preceding  Cali 
fornia  body  and  Broderick 's  objurgation  of  Bu 
chanan,  to  which  the  last  resolutions  applied. 

I  have  been  unable  to  discover  that  these  later 
declarations  of  the  legislature  were  presented  to 
the  Senate,  as  were  the  first.  Other  Northern  sen 
ators  in  those  days  were  reprimanded  by  their 
timid  and  thoughtless  constituents,  who  dreamt  the 
difficulties  could  be  settled  with  words.  There 
were  Cass,  Pugh,  Bright,  and  even  Sumner.  It  is 
true  that  in  every  instance  reparation  was  ulti 
mately  made. 

The  California  legislature  of  1861  expunged  all 
these  violent  diatribes  against  Broderick,  and  his 
memory  with  becoming  dignity  and  indignation, 
but  that  was  two  years  after  he  had  fallen. 
188 


DISSENSION 

Meanwhile  the  bitterness  of  it  rankled  in  his  lofty 
spirit,  and  he  must  have  doubted  if,  after  all,  he 
should  be  wrong.  He  had  one  rasping  rencounter 
with  Gwin,  taunting  him  with  his  free-soil  doc 
trines  in  the  California  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1849,  and  quoting  from  Gwin's  own  address, 
advocating  freedom  and  not  slavery.  But  1859 
was  ten  years  later.  Men  change,  and  perhaps 
with  reason,  in  a  much  shorter  period.  Broderick 
also  attacked  several  schemes  which  contemplated 
the  expenditure  of  federal  funds  in  California  as 
improper  and  extravagant.  Gwin  was  their  author 
and  defender.  One  has  only  to  glance  over  the 
Senate  proceedings  to  clearly  observe  the  tempered 
rancor  and  augmenting  irritation  between  the  two 
senators. 

Gwin  was  not  absent  at  this  session  as  at  the 
last.  The  country  was  fast  drifting  on  the  rocks, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  pilots  directing  its  dangerous 
course  to  destruction;  alert,  active,  adroit. 
Broderick  was  beset  on  every  side.  There  was 
nothing  he  wanted  that  he  could  have.  Every 
thing  he  opposed  succeeded.  In  one  debate  six  of 
the  enemy  confronted  him,  each  one  of  the  six 
being  a  Southern  senator.  He  stood  alone  with  his 
back  to  the  wall.  Seward  styled  him  openly  "the 
brave  young  senator,"  but  the  Republicans  were 
few  and  they  did  not  comprehend  the  broadness 
of  his  intellect  and  the  priceless  value  of  his  ser- 
189 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

vices.     They  regarded  him  with  pity  mingled  with 
respect;  but  he  was  a  Democrat. 

Douglas  had  been  sorely  wounded  in  his  forum 
contest  with  Lincoln.  His  lifelong  dream  of  the 
Presidency  he  saw  was  only  a  dream,  and  his 
lifelong  friends  were  wandering  from  his  side 
into  the  filmy  fog  of  the  future.  He  could  only 
pray  for  Broderick,  but  could  not,  dared  not  battle 
by  his  side.  Besides,  Broderick  went  far.  His 
steel-blue  eyes,  looking  upwards  at  his  father's 
monument,  saw  blood  clouds  encompassing  the 
capital  and  the  country.  He  had  the  clearest 
vision  and  intellect  of  any  man  in  the  Senate,  and 
yet  he  was  treated  like  a  pariah;  an  outcast; 
taunted  and  baited  until  he  began  to  doubt.  Even 
his  firm,  rugged  character  quailed  for  a  moment, 
and  in  his  lonely  environment  he  cried  out:  "If 
I  have  made  a  mistake  here  this  evening  I  will  try 
to  correct  it  when  I  come  here  next  winter  if  I 
should  live  so  long  and  not  resign  in  the  meantime. ' ' 
Did  these  ominous,  fateful  expressions  presage  his 
doom?  Did  the  memory  of  Ferguson  cloud  his 
mental  vision  ?  Did  he  know  how  his  blood  would 
be  sought?  Men  do  not  talk  of  dying  at  thirty- 
nine  without  reasons.  Yet  there  were  gallant  foes 
among  those  Southrons.  Toombs  and  Benjamin 
were  both  chivalrous  cavaliers,  who  would  have 
rivalled  the  French  at  Fontenoy.  While  they  as 
sailed  him  often  on  national  issues,  on  minor  affairs 
190 


I 


DISSENSION 

affecting  his  own  state  they  aided  him.  They 
seemed  to  take  a  grim  delight  in  thwarting  Gwin. 
It  does  not  lie  with  me  to  censure  the  Southerners. 
The  South  was  their  country  as  the  North  was 
ours.  They  felt  as  Decatur  said  in  his  toast :  "  Our 
country,  may  she  be  always  right;  but  our  coun 
try,  right  or  wrong." 

Lee  followed  not  the  Confederacy,  but  his  state. 
That  was  his  country.  It  is  true  the  cause  was 
indefensible.  Slaves  could  not  exist  in  civilized 
communities.  Even  in  semi-barbarous  South 
America  they  had  been  manumitted.  The  propo 
nents  of  slavery  were  warring  against  the  inevi 
table,  against  the  moving  glacier  of  modern  prog 
ress.  But  many  a  man  fought  in  Southern  ranks 
not  for  slavery,  but  for  his  state.  It  is  all  over 
now  and  the  Union  is  stronger  after  the  struggle, 
though  those  who  glance  over  these  pages  may  be 
appalled  at  the  venom  and  ferocity  with  which 
some  were  pursued. 

As  a  senator  Broderick  not  only  advocated  the 
enfranchisement  of  labor,  but  stood  for  the  home 
stead  law;  for  the  endowment  of  mechanical  and 
agricultural  colleges  by  Congress ;  for  the  construc 
tion  of  a  railway  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean;  for  the  prosecution  of  peculators  in 
all  departments  of  the  government,  and  for  general 
reform  and  retrenchment  in  public  affairs.  Among 
the  special  objects  of  his  animadversions  were  cor- 
191 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

rupt  Indian  agents;  venal  surveyors  of  public 
lands;  jobbery  by  postmasters  and  the  rascally 
revenue  collectors  of  the  administration,  sparing 
not  even  Buchanan  himself. 

He  left  Washington,  his  birthplace,  forever,  on 
the  adjournment  of  Congress  in  March,  1859.  While 
conversing  with  friends  at  a  hotel  in  New  York  he 
was  wantonly  insulted  by  two  men, — unknown  to 
him.  On  a  repetition  of  the  offense,  Broderick, 
strong  and  active,  struck  them  both  severely  with 
his  cane.  Subsequently  it  was  learned  that  they 
were  from  New  Orleans  and  of  a  certain  standing. 

The  affair  annoyed  him,  as  it  seemed  premedi 
tated,  and  he  suspected  a  plot  to  force  a  duel.  Was 
it  not  a  forerunner  of  the  future?  In  bidding 
farewell  to  a  friend  in  New  York,  he  said :  "  I  don 't 
know  whether  you  will  ever  see  me  again." 

In  this  gloomy  mood  he  returned  home,  via  Pan 
ama,  to  find  political  chaos  reigning  in  California. 
There  w^as  no  question  of  his  position.  He  was 
clearly  opposed  to  all  the  dominant  elements,  both 
in  Washington  and  at  home.  He  was  hardly  a  Dem 
ocrat;  he  was  not  yet  a  Republican,  and  there  was 
no  half-way  house.  He  was  in  that  anomalous  posi 
tion  of  men  who  doubt  the  old,  but  still  are  not 
quite  ready  for  the  vigorous  embrace  of  the  exuber 
ant  young.  He  could  not,  would  not,  deny  his 
antagonism  to  Buchanan  and  Southern  dogmas, 
and  yet  dared  he  desert  the  Democratic  party? 
192 


DISSENSION 

Where  would  he  go?  /The  Republican  organiza 
tion  was  his  natural  home,  for  in  that  which  caused 
its  birth  and  growth — opposition  to  slavery — he 
was  one  of  the  most  early  and  ardent  advocates/ 
In  effect,  each  state  and  government  official  was 
Southern  by  birth  or  sentiment.  It  was  said  that 
of  an  hundred  and  fifty  federal  officeholders  sta 
tioned  in  San  Francisco,  all  but  five  sprang  from 
south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  Which,  of 
course,  was  both  unjust  and  imprudent,  for  it  car 
ried  reflection  and  irritation  to  Northern  men.  By 
now,  indeed,  the  cleavage  was  pronounced  and  the 
two  factions  were  ranging  in  ranks.  Only  the 
Democrats  could  not  yet  forget  the  fetich  of  the 
name  under  which  as  talisman  they  had  ruled  the 
land  these  many  years.  Hence  Northern  Demo 
crats  were  dissatisfied  and  discontented,  yet  knew 
not  where  to  go  nor  why. 

Nevertheless,  the  rupture  was  complete.  On  the 
question  of  the  Lecompton  constitution,  the  Demo 
crats  divided,  formed  two  state  conventions  and 
nominated  two  complete  state  tickets.  The  fed 
eral  and  state  governments  combined  in  favor  of 
the  Lecompton  constitution  and  were  undoubtedly 
the  regular  Democratic  organization,  and  as  such 
carried  the  votes  of  those  whom  I  have  indicated, 
as  well  as  of  the  timid,  who  deprecated  change 
and  confusion.  They  were  not  seers  no?  Cassan- 
dras  and  could  not  penetrate  the  future.  On  his 
193 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

side  Broderick  selected  as  candidate  for  governor 
a  Republican. 

He  was  too  sagacious  not  to  know  he  could  not 
win  without  their  aid  and  probably  not  with  them, 
for  he,  better  than  any  man  in  the  state,  fathomed 
the  depth,  solidity  and  discipline  of  the  battle  line 
which  he  confronted.  Doubtless  he  hoped  for 
fusion,  and  Horace  Greeley,  one  of  the  earliest 
and  foremost  Republicans,  then  on  a  visit  to  the 
coast,  openly  advised  the  California  Republicans 
to  coalesce  with  Broderick  and  his  Democratic  ad 
herents. 

But  the  California  Republicans  declined,  per 
haps  feeling  with  Pompey  that  more  people  wor 
shipped  the  rising  than  the  setting  sun.  Still  the 
sentiment  between  the  new  birth  and  the  anti- 
Lecomptonites  was  cordial.  Baker,  the  Republican 
nominee  for  Congress,  and  Broderick  became  close 
and  intimate  associates.  They  were  of  the  same 
stamp  and  type,  men  who  led  multitudes  and 
founded  states. 

For  the  first  time  Broderick  canvassed  the  state 
addressing  the  people.  Very  likely  his  sojourn  in 
the  Senate  and  contact  with  ready  and  fluent  ora 
tors  had  furnished  him  with  courage  and  a  certain 
aptitude.  He  spoke  frequently  in  a  clear,  sonor 
ous  voice,  distinctly  heard.  His  enunciation  was 
deliberate  and  his  elocution  good.  He  seldom  ges- 
194 


DISSENSION 

ticulated  and  never  played  cadence  with  his  sen 
tences — the  orator's  charm. 

Not  a  jest,  not  a  smile,  but  intensely  resolved, 
grand,  gloomy  and  peculiar,  as  Shiel  said  of  Napo 
leon.  He  accused  Gwin  of  several  public  transac 
tions  as  senator,  which  were  prompted  by  venal 
motives;  he  delved  into  details  on  these  matters; 
challenged  Gwin  to  a  public  debate  before  the  popu 
lace,  and  summed  up  his  sins  and  crimes  with  the 
phrase  "dripping  with  corruption." 

Gwin,  who  was  also  active  in  the  campaign,  re 
plied  with  vigor  and  ascerbity,  and  the  conflict 
became  bitterly  personal  and  acrimonious.  Latham, 
who  had  been  a  candidate  for  senator  when  Broder- 
ick  and  Gwin  were  elected  and  who  was  now  the 
Lecompton  nominee  for  governor,  made  a  second 
antagonist  of  Broderick.  He  was  of  the  North 
with  Southern  prejudices  and  predilections,  and 
supported  Gwin,  for  therein  lay  advancement,  but 
he  was  neither  loved  by  the  one  nor  hated  by  the 
other  to  a  pernicious  degree. 

The  senatorial  election  of  1857  was  one  of  the 
principal  topics,  and  Latham  was  involved  only  to 
a  less  degree  than  Gwin.  The  difference  was  that 
Gwin  gave  Broderick  a  written  letter  of  renuncia 
tion  and  abdication  of  the  government  patronage, 
and  Latham  did  not,  though  he  had  been  quite 
willing.  Broderick  had  carefully  refrained  from 
informing  the  people  of  this  extremely  humble  and 
195 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

abject  paper.  He  was  not  of  a  forgiving  or 
magnanimous  nature,  but  his  party  creed  and  faith 
had  been  deep  and  constant,  and  he  knew  the  reve 
lation  would  never  be  forgiven. 

Now,  however,  he  himself  had  left  Democracy 
and  was  drifting  on  the  political  waters,  farther 
and  farther  from  the  old  shores  and  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  new,  from  whence  shone  the  light  of 
Republicanism  that  was  to  save  the  republic. 

Besides,  he  felt  that  Gwin  deserved  no  sympathy 
for  his  turpitude  in  continuing  to  advise  Buchanan, 
as  if  no  such  damning  document  existed.  So,  in 
August,  at  a  meeting  under  the  pines  and  the  stars 
at  Shasta,  he  said : 

"I  now  return  to  Gwin,  and  I  shall  be  brief.  I 
will  give  you  the  copy  of  the  letter  that  I  believe 
led  to  the  death  of  W.  L.  Ferguson.  Do  you  be 
lieve  it  was  for  nothing  that  Ferguson's  desk  in 
the  Senate  chamber  was  broken  open  immediately 
after  his  decease?  On  his  deathbed  Ferguson  told 
General  Estill  where  he  could  find  the  letter.  A 
curse  has  followed  that  letter,  and  I  now  give  it 
to  the  public  that  the  curse  may  return  to  its 
author — that  its  disgrace  and  shame  may  burn  the 
brand  upon  his  forehead  even  as  plainly,  as  pal 
pably  as  the  scarlet  letter  burned  upon  the  breast 
of  Hester  Pryn!  Let  Dr.  Gwin  or  any  of  his  set 
deny  its  authority  and  I  will  prove  that  he  wrote 
it,  letter  for  letter,  column  for  column." 
196 


DISSENSION 

He  then  read  the  instrument  which  appears  on 
an  earlier  page  of  this  volume. 

Gwin,  in  his  reply  a  few  days  later  at  Yreka,  said 
that  Broderick  was  "a  cowardly  liar.  He  will 
slander  and  lie  upon  me — it  is  his  vocation  and 
has  been  that  of  his  minions  for  years,  but  I  will 
survive  it  now  as  I  have  heretofore.  The  more  he 
abuses  me  the  more  firmly  I  will  hold  the  confidence 
of  my  constituents.  This  is  strong  language,  but  I 
intend  it  to  be  so.  Broderick  is  to  be  here  in  a  short 
time  and  I  wish  him  to  understand  it."  These 
words  with  their  direct  implication  and  applica 
tion  conveyed  a  clear  significance  that  was  univer 
sally  understood  and  accepted.  In  the  same  ad 
dress  he  refers  almost  humorously  to  the  penalties 
of  patronage  in  language  that  I  heard  re-echoed 
by  another  senator  forty  years  afterwards.  Gwin 
said: 

' '  The  first  five  years  of  my  term  I  had  no  trouble 
on  the  subject  of  executive  patronage  as  it  was 
a  Whig  reign.  I  made  no  complaint.  But  when 
Pierce  came  in  and  new  officers  had  to  be  ap 
pointed  all  the  officeseekers  flocked  to  Washington. 
I  among  others  was  beset  by  them.  You  can  form 
no  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  they  urged  their 
claims.  There  was  about  five  for  every  office.  They 
interrupted  me  in  the  senate  chamber,  and  I  was 
not  safe  in  my  own  home  from  their  pursuit.  I 
never  got  up  to  eat  my  breakfast  but  my  eyes  were 
197 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

greeted  with  the  sight  of  them.  The  result  was 
that  I  came  to  the  determination  never  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  dispensing  of  office  if  I 
remained  in  the  senate. 

"For  Collector  of  the  Port  of  San  Francisco, 
under  Pierce,  there  were  two  prominent  candidates 
—Marshall  and  another.  The  President  informed 
me  that  if  I  would  commend  Marshall  he  would 
appoint  him,  otherwise,  from  personal  feelings,  he 
would  give  the  appointment  to  the  other,  Latham. 
I  declined  signing  Marshall's  paper.  He  came 
home  the  worst  enemy  I  had. 

"With  all  the  talent  he  is  known  to  possess,  by 
articles  signed  ' Interior,'  attacking  me,  etc.,  he 
proved  the  bitterest  foe  I  ever  had.  The  gentle 
man  appointed  to  the  office  is  at  present  one  of  my 


198 


CHAPTER  XI 

PROVOCATION 

David  S.  Terry  came  to  California  from  Texas 
in  1849  and  located  in  Stockton.  He  volunteered 
in  the  United  States  service  from  Texas  during  the 
Mexican  War  in  1846  and  served  throughout  as 
one  of  a  company  of  mounted  rangers.  Their 
principal  function  was  to  repel  Mexican  and  Indian 
incursions  from  the  borders,  where  helpless  fami 
lies  and  small  hamlets  lay  unprotected. 

As  a  mounted  soldier  he  acquitted  himself  cred 
itably  and  with  courage.  The  war  ended  in  1848, 
and  young  Terry  became  an  advocate.  The  next 
year  he  followed  the  hejira  toward  the  West  that 
came  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  crossed 
the  plains  to  California.  A  year  or  two  later  he 
returned  to  Texas,  married,  and  brought  his  bride 
to  Stockton,  which  became  their  permanent  resi 
dence.  He  was'  always  an  active  Democrat  in  state 
politics,  conventions  and  in  the  local  politics  of 
his  county. 

He  was  a  strong  opponent  of  Broderick  in  the 
convention  of  1854,  which  assembled  in  the  Sacra 
mento  church  and  nearly  ended  its  deliberations  in 
a  sanguinary  battle.  Subsequently  he  deserted 
199 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

the  Democratic  organization  and  espoused  the 
Native  American  party.  During  its  meteoric  and 
ephemeral  career  he  was  elected  in  1855  as  associate 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California  and  took 
office  the  first  of  the  ensuing  year.  Some  time 
thereafter  Chief  Justice  Murray  died  and  Terry 
was  appointed  by  the  governor  his  successor. 

In  the  summer  of  1856,  only  a  few  months  after 
his  elevation  and  before  the  demise  of  Murray,  he 
stabbed  one  of  the  Vigilante  officers  in  San  Fran 
cisco  for  which  he  was  tried  and  released  by  the 
committee  after  an  imprisonment  of  several  weeks. 

A  year  later  Stephen  J.  Field  was  chosen  to  fill 
the  vacancy  on  the  supreme  bench  caused  by  the 
elevation  of  Terry  to  the  chief  justiceship.  His 
tenure  of  office  terminated  in  three  years;  that  is 
at  the  end  of  1859. 

Elected  as  a  Know-Nothing,  Terry,  like  many 
others,  had  abandoned  this  organization  and  be 
came  once  again  a  Democrat.  Always  an  extreme 
partisan  the  bitter  feud  raging  between  the  two 
wings  of  the  party  had  found  in  the  Texan  an 
ardent  response,  and  his  Southern  slavery  antece 
dents  and  proclivities  naturally  ranked  him  with 
that  element. 

After     his     dangerous     experiment     with     the 
Vigilantes  in  1856  he  remembered  and  conserved 
the  dignity  demanded  of  his  station  and  exercised 
his  judicial  functions  with  justice  and  honor. 
200 


PROVOCATION 

Three  years  later  he  was  a  candidate  before  the 
Lecompton  convention  to  succeed  himself.  But 
the  delegates  chose  another  contestant.  The  same 
evening,  at  Sacramento,  after  his  defeat,  he  came 
before  the  convention  and  delivered  a  vehement 
address.  The  subjoined  is  a  part  of  his  speech: 

' '  What  other  1  A  miserable  remnant  of  a  faction 
sailing  under  false  colors  trying  to  obtain  votes 
under  false  pretenses.  They  have  no  distinction 
they  are  entitled  to.  They  are  the  followers  of  one 
man,  the  personal  chattels  of  a  single  individual, 
whom  they  are  ashamed  of ;  they  belong  heart  and 
soul,  body  and  breeches,  to  David  C.  Broderick. 

"They  are  yet  ashamed  to  acknowledge  their 
master,  and  are  calling  themselves,  forsooth,  Doug 
las  Democrats,  when  it  is  known  to  them,  as  to 
us,  that  the  gallant  senator  from  Illinois,  whose 
voice  has  always  been  heard  in  the  advocacy  of 
Democratic  principles,  has  no  affiliation  with  them, 
no  feeling  in  common  with  them. 

"Perhaps,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  I  am 
mistaken  in  denying  their  rights  to  claim  Douglas 
as  their  leader;  but  it  is  the  banner  of  the  Black 
Douglas,  whose  name  is  Frederick,  not  Stephen." 

These  were  the  words  of  the  chief  justice  of  the 
state,  delivered  after  three  years  of  silence,  before 
a  body  of  delegates  who  had  just  defeated  his  as 
pirations,  so  that  no  epithets,  however  violent, 
could  have  altered  their  declared  resolve. 
201 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

Even  today,  when  we  are  very  tolerant  and  philo 
sophical  toward  political  animadversions,  such  a 
diatribe  would  be  indignantly  resented;  still  more 
so  in  the  years  of  which  I  write.  Every  man  of 
distinction  was  careful  of  his  language,  public  and 
private;  people  would  fight  for  a  pin  and  their 
''honor"  was,  of  course,  a  more  valuable  com 
modity. 

Terry,  in  his  letter  to  the  Vigilantes,  said :  ' '  One 
of  the  first  lessons  I  learned  was  to  avoid  giving 
an  insult,  and  to  allow  none  to  be  given  to  me. 
I  have  acted  and  expect  to  act  on  this  principle. 
I  believe  no  man  has  a  right  to  outrage  the  feel 
ings  of  another,  or  attempt  to  blast  his  good  name 
without  being  responsible  for  his  actions." 

If  Terry  thought  others  felt  like  himself  he  must 
have  expected  recognition.  On  the  morning  of  the 
27th  of  June  Broderick,  while  at  the  breakfast  table 
of  the  International  Hotel  in  San  Francisco,  read 
in  a  journal  the  address  of  Terry,  delivered  in 
Sacramento  two  days  previously.  He  became  angry 
and  disturbed  and  spoke  to  a  friend  at  the  table, 
the  company  including  several  ladies.  He  observed 
that  while  Terry  was  incarcerated  by  the  Vigi 
lance  Committee  he  had  paid  $200  a  week  to  sup 
port  a  newspaper  to  defend  him,  and  added: 
"I  have  said  that  I  considered  him  the  only  hon 
est  man  on  the  supreme  bench,  but  I  now  take  it 
all  back."  Mr.  D.  "W,  Perley,  by  a  coincidence, 
202 


PROVOCATION 

was  breakfasting  in  the  room  and  heard  Brod- 
erick.  Perley,  though  not  an  American  citizen,  had 
been  a  legal  colleague  of  Terry  until  the  latter 's 
accession  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Years  previously 
Terry  had  seconded  Perley  in  a  duel,  and  Perley, 
in  the  trial  of  Terry  before  the  Vigilance  Commit 
tee,  had  given  strong  and  insistent  evidence  in 
favor  of  Terry's  personal  character  and  integrity. 
Hence  he  was  an  old  and  intimate  friend, 
though  his  professional  and  personal  standing  had 
somewhat  lessened  since  Terry  was  no  longer  his 
associate.  He  asked  Broderick  if  he  meant  Terry, 
and  being  answered  ''yes,"  at  once  resented  the 
words  used  by  Broderick,  who  cut  him  short  with 
some  curt  remarks  that  Perley  deemed  personally 
offensive.  He  sent  a  challenge  to  Broderick,  which 
the  latter  declined,  giving  his  reasons  in  a  some 
what  lengthy  epistle,  from  which  I  quote: 

"For  many  years  and  up  to  the  time  of  my  ele 
vation  to  the  position  I  now  occupy  it  was  well 
known  that  I  would  not  have  avoided  any  issue  of 
the  character  proposed.  If  compelled  to  accept  a 
challenge  it  could  only  be  with  a  gentleman  hold 
ing  a  position  equally  elevated  and  responsible ;  and 
there  are  no  circumstances  which  could  induce 
me  even  to  do  this  during  the  pending  of  the  pres 
ent  canvass.  When  I  authorized  the  announcement 
that  I  would  address  the  people  of  California 
during  the  campaign  it  was  suggested  that  efforts 
203 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

would  be  made  to  force  me  into  difficulties,  and  I 
determined  to  take  no  notice  of  attacks  from  any 
source  during  the  canvass.  There  are  probably 
many  other  gentlemen  who  would  seek  similar  op 
portunities  for  hostile  meetings  for  the  purpose  of 
accomplishing  a  political  object  or  to  obtain  public 
notoriety. 

"I  cannot  afford  at  the  present  time  to  descend 
to  a  violation  of  the  constitution  and  the  state 
laws  to  subserve  either  their  or  your  purposes." 

A  few  days  later  one  of  the  city  press  ad 
verting  to  the  subject  remarked:  "For  refusing 
to  fight  a  duel  under  the  circumstances,  the  large 
mass  of  the  people  will  honor  D.  C.  Broderick.  The 
belief  is  quite  general  that  there  are  certain  polit 
ical  opponents  of  his  who  long  for  a  chance  to 
shoot  him,  either  in  a  fair  or  unfair  fight,  and  that 
efforts  would  be  made  sooner  or  later  to  involve 
him  in  a  personal  difficulty.  It  is  wisdom  on  his 
part  to  avoid  the  traps  set  for  him  and  thus  defeat 
all  the  plans  of  those  in  whose  path  he  happens  to 
just  now  stand.  His  seat  in  the  Senate  would  be 
quite  acceptable  to  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  the 
state.  The  people  of  California  ought  to  manifest 
in  a  manner  not  to  be  mistaken,  their  approval  of 
the  conduct  of  a  public  man  who  exhibits  courage 
to  refuse  upon  any  ground  to  accept  a  challenge." 

All  this  in  a  most  matter-of-fact  way,  as  if  hunt 
ing  the  life  of  a  senator  of  the  United  States  was 
204 


PROVOCATION 

not  an  unusual  and  customary  proceeding!  And 
Broderick  also  refers  to  this  assumption  in  his  let 
ter  above.  It  seems  to  have  been  in  the  air,  on 
everyone's  lips,  in  every  gathering,  that  this  man 
was  to  be  followed  and  shot  like  a  wild  beast ! 

Over  two  months  afterwards,  on  Wednesday,  the 
7th  of  September,  occurred  the  election  and,  dur 
ing  this  period  Terry  said  never  a  word.  His 
only  public  address  in  three  years  was  the  one 
from  which  I  have  given  the  excerpt  attacking 
Broderick.  Broderick  emerged  from  the  contest 
dispirited,  defeated,  in  ill-health,  which  had  clung 
to  him  for  months,  and  should  have  gone  to  a 
sanitarium.  He  had  just  ended  the  most  severe  and 
trying  canvass  within  the  memory  of  Californians, 
concentrating  in  his  own  person  the  abuse,  cal 
umny  and  vituperation  of  his  triumphant  adver 
saries.  Mark  now  how  events  followed  fast  and 
followed  faster.  The  election  was  on  the  7th  of 
September.  That  very  day  Terry  forwarded  to 
the  governor  his  written  resignation  as  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  of  Califor 
nia.  His  duration  of  the  office  expired  with  the 
year. '  He  left  Sacramento  immediately,  journeyed 
direct  to  Oakland  and  at  once  sent  to  Broderick  the 
subjoined  communication : 

''Oakland,  September  8,  1859. 

"Hon.  D.  C.  Broderick,  Sir:     Some  two  months 
since,  at  the  public  table  in  the  International  Hotel 
205 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

in  San  Francisco,  you  saw  fit  to  indulge  in  certain 
remarks  concerning  me,  which  were  offensive  in 
their  nature.  Before  I  had  heard  of  the  circum 
stance  your  note  of  29th  of  June,  addressed  to  Mr. 
D.  W.  Per  ley,  in  which  you  declared  that  you 
would  not  respond  to  any  call  of  a  personal  char 
acter  during  the  political  canvass  just  concluded, 
had  been  published. 

"I  have,  therefore,  not  been  permitted  to  take 
any  notice  of  these  remarks  until  the  expiration 
of  the  limit  fixed  by  yourself.  I  now  take  the 
earliest  opportunity  to  require  of  you  a  retraction 
of  those  remarks.  This  note  will  be  handed  you 
by  my  friend,  Calhoun  Benham,  Esq.,  who  is  ac 
quainted  with  its  contents  and  will  receive  your 
reply. 

"D.  S.  TERRY." 

Benham  sought  out  Broderick,  gave  him  the 
letter  and  requested  an  immediate  response.  Brod 
erick  said  he  would  answer  the  day  following,  but 
Benham  asked  for  a  reply  directly  and  it  was  so 
agreed. 

The  reply  follows : 

"San  Francisco,  September  8,  1859. 

"Hon.  D.  S.  Terry,  Sir:  Your  note  of  Septem 
ber  8th  reached  me  through  the  hands  of  Mr.  Cal 
houn  Benham.  The  remarks  used  by  me  in  the 
conversation  referred  to  may  be  a  subject  of  future 
misrepresentation;  and  for  obvious  reasons  I  have 
206 


PROVOCATION 

to  desire  you  to  state  what  were  the  remarks  that 
you  designate  in  your  note  as  offensive,  and  of 
which  you  require  of  me  a  retraction. 
"I  remain,  etc., 

"D.  C.  BRODERICK." 
This  is  Terry's  answer: 

''San  Francisco,  September  9th,  1859. 
"Hon  D.  C.  Broderick,  Sir:  In  reply  to  your 
note  of  this  date  I  have  to  say  that  the  offensive 
remarks  to  which  I  alluded  in  my  communication 
of  yesterday  are  as  follows:  'I  have  hitherto  con 
sidered  and  spoken  of  him  (myself)  as  the  only 
honest  man  on  the  Supreme  Court  bench;  but  I 
now  take  it  all  back,'  thus  by  implication  reflect 
ing  on  my  personal  and  official  integrity.  This,  is 
the  substance  of  your  remarks  as  reported  to  me; 
the  precise  terms,  however,  in  which  such  an  im 
plication  was  conveyed  are  not  important  to  the 
question. 

"You  yourself  can  best  remember  the  terms  in 
which  you  spoke  of  me  on  the  occasion  referred 
to.  What  I  require  is  the  retraction  of  any  words 
which  were  calculated  to  reflect  on  my  character 
as  an  official  or  a  gentleman. 

"I  remain,  your  obedient  servant, 

"D.  S.TERRY." 

"Friday  evening,  September  9th. 
"Hon.  D.  S.  Terry — Yours  of  this  date  has  been 
received.     The  remarks  made  by  me  were  occa- 
207 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

sioned  by  certain  offensive  allusions  of  yours 
concerning  me  made  in  the  convention  at  Sacra 
mento,  reported  in  the  Union  of  June  25th. 
Upon  the  topic  alluded  to  in  your  note  of  this 
date  my  language  so  far  as  my  recollection  serves 
me,  was  as  follows:  'During  Judge  Terry's 
incarceration  by  the  Vigilance  Committee  I 
paid  $200  a  week  to  support  a  newspaper 
in  his  (yours)  defense.'  I  have  also  stated 
heretofore  that  I  considered  him  (Judge  Terry) 
the  only  honest  man  on  the  supreme  bench,  but 
I  take  it  all  back.  You  are  the  best  judge  as 
to  whether  this  language  affords  good  ground  for 
offense. 

"I  remain,  etc., 

"D.  C.  BRODERICK." 
"San  Francisco,  September  9th,  1859. 
"Hon.  D.  C.  Broderick,  Sir:     Some  months  ago 
you  used  language  concerning  me  offensive  in  its 
nature.     I  waited  the  lapse  of  a  period  of  time 
fixed  by  yourself  before  I  asked  reparation  there 
for  at  your  hands.    You  replied,  asking  specifica 
tions  of  the  language  used  which  I  regarded  as  of 
fensive.     In  another  letter  I  gave  you  the  speci 
fication  and  reiterated  my  demand  for  a  retraction. 
To  this  last  letter  you  reply,  acknowledging  the  use 
of  the  offensive  language  imputed  to  you.  and  not 
making  the  retraction  required.      This  course  on 
your  part  leaves  me  no  other  alternative  but  to 
208 


PROVOCATION 

demand  the  satisfaction  usual  among  gentlemen, 
which  I  accordingly  do.  Mr.  Benham  will  make 
the  necessary  arrangements. 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"D.  S.  TERRY.  " 
"San  Francisco,  September  10th,  1859. 

"Hon.  D.  S.  Terry,  Sir:  Your  note  of  the  above 
date  has  been  received  at  1  o'clock  A.  M.,  Septem 
ber  10th. 

"In  response  to  the  same  I  will  refer  you  to  my 
friend,  Hon.  J.  C.  McKibben,  who  will  make  th& 
necessary  arrangements  demanded  in  your  letter. 
"I  remain,  etc., 

"D.  C.  BRODERICK." 

The  super-serviceable  friends  of  Broderick,  in 
obedience  to  Benham 's  behest,  repaired  to  Haskell's 
house  at  Black  Point,  a  mile  and  a  half  distant, 
awoke  the  wearied  and  harassed  man  at  dead  of 
night  and  brought  him  to  the  city  to  be  presented 
by  Benham  with  a  cartel  challenging  and  threaten 
ing  his  life.  This  was  only  the  beginning  of 
blunders. 

Directly  afterwards,  the  same  Saturday,  the 
commissioners  on  both  sides  met  and  drew  articles. 
On  reading  them  one  would  conclude  that  they  ap 
plied  to  a  treaty  or  conference  on  high  legislation 
between  puissant  nations,  so  lengthy  were  the  writ 
ten  preliminaries.  They  prepared  to  slaughter 
each  other  in  those  days  with  dignity  and  decorum. 
209 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

One  change  was  made  from  the  ordinary  proce 
dure  in  duels.  The  word  "three"  was  omitted,  it 
being  agreed  that  the  contestants  should  shoot  be 
tween  the  words  "fire — one,  two."  This  alteration 
was  insisted  upon  by  Broderick's  seconds.  He  was 
supposed  to  be  a  quicker  and  more  accurate  shot 
than  Terry ;  besides,  for  humanity 's  sake,  the  shorter 
the  period  to  aim  and  fire,  the  less  the  danger. 
Broderick  was  reputed  one  of  the  best  shots  in  the 
state,  while  Terry's  reputation  had  been  made 
with  the  knife  and  not  the  pistol.  But  if  two 
men  will  separate  ten  steps  and  face  each  other, 
holding  the  duelling  pistols  of  the  fifties,  with  long 
barrels  that  shoot  like  rifles,  they  will  realize  how 
murderously  short  the  space,  and  how  difficult  to 
miss  a  man. 

It  was  also  provided  in  the  articles  that  the 
choice  of  weapons  and  position  should  be  deter 
mined  by  chance  on  the  ground  which  was  selected 
and  described,  and  that  the  time  should  be  5:30 
A.  M.,  the  following  Monday  morning. 

Broderick  occupied  Saturday  and  Sunday  in 
settling  his  personal  affairs  and,  it  is  said,  in  draw 
ing  his  last  testament.  He  was  under  no  delusion. 
He  was  aware  that  his  life  was  in  great  danger, 
that  the  crisis  had  arrived  which  he  foresaw,  when 
on  leaving  New  York  the  last  time  he  mournfully 
said  to  one  of  his  friends  who  accompanied  him  to 
the  departing  steamer:  "Good-bye.  You  may 
210 


PROVOCATION 

never  see  me  again. "  Rumors  of  the  impending 
meeting  abounded  and  he  was  constantly  beset  by 
people  who  besought  particulars.  Duelling  was 
like  attending  the  theatre ;  there  were  always  spec 
tators. 

On  Monday  morning  early  the  actors  and  specta 
tors,  numbering  several  score,  were  on  the  ground, 
but  presently  there  appeared  the  sheriff  who  placed 
the  duellists  under  arrest.  Being  about  to  break 
the  law  they  first  obeyed  the  law — "I  kissed  her 
ere  I  killed  her." 

During  the  day  their  respective  counsel  appeared 
before  the  justice,  and  he  decided  no  breach  of  the 
peace  had  been  committed.  Of  course  not,  hence 
the  law  could  not  interfere  until  some  one  was 
shot  or  slain ! 

All  Monday  afternoon  and  early  eve  Broderick 
was  intensely  preoccupied  with  the  many  urgent 
questions  that  the  campaign  had  left  un 
answered,  and  arrangements  for  another  meeting 
were  left  entirely  to  his  seconds.  These  were  cool, 
brave  men.  McKibben  was  an  ex-Congressman. 
Colton,  the  other,  had  been  sheriff  of  Siskiyou 
County  and,  almost  single-handed,  had  quelled  a 
miners'  mob.  But  they  had  had  no  experience  in 
the  scientific  art  of  shooting  in  cold  blood.  They  had 
never  participated  in  duels,  either  as  principals  or 
seconds,  and  they  did  not  know  that  a  man  should 
be  groomed  for  one  like  a  horse  for  a  race. 

211 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

It  was  decided  that  the  second  meeting  should  be 
next  morning,  at  about  the  same  time  and  place. 
This  compact  was  concluded  late  on  Monday.  The 
distance  from  the  city  was  nearly  ten  miles,  over  a 
rough  and  hilly  road. 


212 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  DUEL 

The  pistols  were  the  Lafoucheux  type,  a  well 
known  Belgian  make,  and  had  been  brought  to 
California  by  a  French  Creole  named  Beard.  They 
represented  the  most  approved  European  duelling 
pattern,  with  barrels  twelve  inches  in  length,  but 
the  stock  or  breech  construction  was  different  from 
that  of  ordinary  American  duelling  pistols.  Every 
nation  has  its  idiosyncracies. 

Hence  the  man  who  had  never  handled  them 
nor  adjusted  the  stock  to  his  hand  would  be  cer 
tainly  at  a  disadvantage.  They  had  been  well  tried  in 
a  code  function  two  years  earlier,  between  two  Cali- 
fornians  named  Ryer  and  Langdon.  Langdon, 
who  was  challenged  and  won  choice  of  weapons, 
selected  this  pair  and  also  the  one  he  preferred. 
Both  men  practiced  with  the  respective  pistols  al 
lotted  to  them  the  day  before  the  duel.  Dr.  Ryer, 
in  firing  the  one  assigned  to  him,  discovered  the 
hair  trigger  was  so  light  and  delicate  that  the 
pistol  would  be  discharged  on  a  sudden  jar  or  mo 
tion,  without  touching  the  trigger.  Even  thus 
forewarned  of  this  eccentric  characteristic  he  was 
unable  upon  the  field  to  fully  guard  against  the 
213 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

defect,  and  on  the  first  two  exchanges  with  his 
antagonist  his  bullets  entered  the  ground  directly 
in  front.  On  the  third  round  he  succeeded  in 
elevating  it  to  his  adversary's  knee  before  it  was 
discharged.  The  bullet  struck  the  knee  and 
stopped  the  duel,  but  Ryer  stated  that  the  bullets 
from  Langdon's  weapon  whizzed  unpleasantly  past 
his  ear,  clearly  evidencing  that  the  other  pistol  was 
not  similarly  affected. 

This  pair  of  pistols  had  passed  into  the  possession 
of  Dr.  Aylette  of  Stockton,  and  were  known  as  the 
"Aylette  pistols/'  Dr.  Aylette  was  Terry's  in 
timate  friend  and  would  have  been  with  him  at 
the  duel  had  not  the  postponement  sent  him  home 
to  Stockton. 

Ex-Lieutenant  Governor  Daggett  has  written  me 
a  letter  from  which  the  annexed  is  an  excerpt: 

' '  I  had  a  talk  with  Senator  Langf ord  some  years 
ago,  who  was  a  life-long  friend  of  Terry's  and,  as 
I  believe  you  know,  a  reliable  and  truthful  man. 
Ben,  much  to  my  surprise,  related  to  me  the  fact 
that  when  the  duel  was  decided  upon,  Terry  came 
to  his  house  in  Lodi  for  advice,  and  together  they 
went  to  Dr.  Aylette  in  Stockton,  who  had  pistols 
and  was  authority  upon  such  matters. 

'  *  They  all  went  out  to  the  doctor 's  barn  to  prac 
tice,  and  Ben  said  Terry  never  had  carried  a  pis 
tol — always  depended  upon  his  knife — and  at  his 
first  attempts  to  fire  at  the  words  'one,  two,  three,' 
214 


THE  DUEL 

he  could  not  hit  the  side  of  a  barn,  while  Aylette 
would  hit  the  size  of  a  man  every  time.  Of  course 
he  subsequently  learned." 

Senator  Langford  was  one  of  my  associates,  rep 
resenting  Stockton  in  the  State  Senate  of  Califor 
nia  in  1885,  while  Daggett  was  lieutenant-governor 
and  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate. 

Judge  Terry  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the  Sen 
ate  chamber,  and  Langford  made  us  acquainted. 
I  had  several  conferences  with  Terry  and  assisted 
in  the  passage  of  a  measure  that  he  strongly 
favored.  My  conception  of  him  was  that  of  an 
upright  and  capable  gentleman.  He  was  of  mas 
sive  build,  dignified  mien,  and  demanded  considera 
tion.  The  shadows  of  the  past  seemed  to  cluster 
around  his  form,  for  he  rarely  smiled  and  was 
stoically  silent. 

In  my  researches  of  his  career  while  a  jurist 
I  can  find  no  reproaches  by  any  one  as  to  the 
character  or  the  justice  of  his  decisions. 

It  would  appear  from  this  statement  of  Lang- 
ford  that  Terry  practiced  with  these  "Aylette" 
pistols  more  than  once,  and  it  follows  that 
he  must  perforce  have  become  cognizant  of  the 
"tricky"  defect  or  fault  in  one  of  them.  As  the 
duel  occurred  over  two  months  after  his  speech, 
which  was  the  first  cause,  he  had  ample  time  to 
perfect  himself  in  the  use  of  the  pistols  and  de 
liberately  make  all  other  personal  arrangements, 
215 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

contemplating  without  doubt  that  the  meeting  must 
come. 

During  this  same  period,  Broderick  was  the 
leader  and,  therefore,  the  active  participant  in  a 
harassing,  acrimonious,  fatiguing  campaign,  from 
which  he  emerged  with  shattered  spirits,  depleted 
health  and  exhausted  body,  to  be  instantly  pre 
sented  with  a  sinister  note  and  finally  a  deadly  car 
tel,  all  within  three  days  after  the  election,  when 
he  should  have  been  resting  and  recovering  from 
the  struggle.  It  has  been  stated  that  he  had  con 
tracted  pneumonia  near  the  end  of  the  canvass 
but  for  this  I  can  find  no  positive  authority. 

Monday  night,  Colton  and  McKibben,  with  a 
surgeon  and  Broderick,  entered  a  carriage  and 
were  driven  out  to  the  Lake  House,  a  little  inn  on 
the  old  Mission  Road,  some  two  miles  from  the  sea, 
and  the  same  distance  north  and  west  of  the  rendez 
vous.  The  small  habitation  was  almost  untenanted, 
and  low  cots  with  scant  covering  constituted  the 
sleeping  accommodations.  It  was  infested  with 
sand  fleas  and  no  one  closed  an  eyelid.  In  the  raw 
and  foggy  morning  they  arose  unrefreshed,  and 
without  a  stimulant  of  any  kind,  not  even  a  drop  of 
coffee,  the  quartette,  mounting  the  vehicle,  drove  to 
the  spot  where  they  descried  Terry  and  his  party. 
The  latter  had  also  passed  the  night  in  the  vicinity, 
but  it  was  in  a  comfortable  farm  house  hard  by, 
216 


THE  DUEL 

where  he  was  furnished  with  a  good  bed  and  a 
warm  substantial  breakfast  when  he  arose. 

A  group  of  men  who  had  arrived  on  foot,  on 
horseback  and  in  carriages,  stood  at  a  distance  on 
a  knoll,  like  Eomans  viewing  the  gladiators  in  the 
Coliseum.  They  numbered  some  three  score,  and  had 
left  the  city  after  midnight  for  the  picnic  ground. 
Broderick  and  Terry  did  not  salute  each  other 
but  stood  apart  conversing  with  friends.  A  city 
gunsmith  had  brought  a  pair  of  pistols,  which  had 
never  been  fired  by  either  opponent.  Broderick 's 
people  brought  none,  while  Terry's  carried  the 
"Aylette"  pistols.  The  seconds  of  Broderick  won 
the  position  and  the  giving  of  the  words,  but 
Terry's  won  a  far  more  important  point,  the  selec 
tion  of  weapons.  Of  course  they  choose  their 
own,  and  why  not?  Does  one  go  to  battle  with 
one's  own  or  with  the  enemy's  arms?  "When  our 
lives  are  in  jeopardy  would  we  not  fight  with  our 
own  sword,  and  shoot  with  our  own  pistol,  which 
we  know  and  have  used  rather  than  with  one  that 
we  do  not  know  and  had  not  used  ? 

Broderick  had  no  favorite  arms.  He  had  dis 
carded  pistols  since  his  election  to  the  Senate,  if 
not  before,  and,  though  reported  a  dead  shot,  had 
not  handled  a  pistol  for  months.  The  "Aylettes" 
having  been  chosen,  the  next  thing  was  to  decide 
between  the  two  as  set  down  in  number  eight  of  the 
217 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

articles — "Choice  of  the  two  weapons  to  be  deter 
mined  by  chance  as  in  Article  Seven." 

McKibben,  one  of  Broderick's  seconds,  snapped 
a  cap  on  one  of  the  pistols  and  was  satisfied.  He 
did  not  snap  a  cap  on  the  second  as  he  should  have 
done,  and  I  can  find  no  evidence  as  to  which  one 
he  thus  tested.  Then  Terry's  seconds  took  one  of 
the  pistols  and  the  other  remained  for  Broderick. 
Thus  Article  Eight — tossing  for  choice  of  pistols — 
was  not  fulfilled,  nor  did  the  seconds  of  Broderick 
so  demand. 

After  being  thus  allotted,  the  arms  were  sub 
mitted  to  the  gunsmith  for  examination.  He  made 
a  careful  inspection  and  pronounced  them  in 
good  order,  except  that  they  were  light  and  deli 
cate  on  the  triggers,  and  he  also  informed  one  of 
Terry's  seconds  that  the  one  intended  for  Broder 
ick  was  lighter  on  the  trigger  than  the  other.  The 
armorer,  Legardo,  so  testified  at  the  inquest  over 
Broderick's  dead  body,  and  he  added  that  the 
pistol  for  Broderick  was  so  delicate  that  it  would 
explode  by  a  sudden  jar  or  movement.  This  evi 
dence  was  not  contradicted.  Colton  and  McKibben 
stated  in  a  public  letter  the  day  after  the  duel, 
and  before  Broderick's  death,  that  had  they  known 
one  of  the  weapons  was  lighter  on  the  trigger 
than  the  other  they  would  not  have  permitted  the 
duel.  Why  did  they  not  know?  Did  they  ask, 
218 


THE  DUEL 

and  if  they  had  asked,  would  they  not  have  been 
told  the  verity  at  once? 

The  day  after,  on  his  death  bed,  Broderick  said 
that  he  did  not  touch  the  trigger  of  the  pistol  as 
he  raised  it,  but  that  the  sudden  movement  in 
elevating  his  arm  from  the  vertical  position  caused 
the  weapon  to  explode  and  the  bullet  plunged  into 
the  ground. 

While  this  prologue  to  the  tragedy  was  passing, 
Broderick  stood  apart  with  Elliott  J.  Moore.  He 
had  been  calm  and  collected,  but  when  he  was 
apprised  that  Terry's  seconds  had  won  the  choice 
and  saw  the  pistols,  he  complained  to  Moore  of  the 
inefficiency  of  his  seconds  and  said  they  were  no 
match  for  those  of  his  adversary.  He  spoke  of 
them  as  children  and  expressed  apprehension  lest 
they  might  unwittingly  " trade  away  his  life." 

The  pistols  were  loaded,  Broderick 's  by  the  ar 
morer  and  Terry's  by  S.  H.  Brooks,  one  of  his 
faithful  friends.  The  ten  paces  were  measured 
and  white  marks  placed  to  establish  the  distance. 
The  men  were  told  to  take  their  stations. 

Up  to  now  Terry  seemed  agitated  and  measured 
the  space  with  an  uneasy  and  an  anxious  glance. 
Benham  approached  Terry  and  whispered.  Terry 
faintly  smiled,  became  calm,  and  thereafter  was 
as  cold  and  impassive  as  the  marble  statue  of 
El  Comendador.  Did  the  whispering  cadence 
breathe  aught  of  the  pistol? 
219 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

In  accord  with  the  nominal  rule,  both  men 
were  searched  by  a  second  of  the  other.  McKibben 
merely  touched  Terry 's  breast,  but  Benham  manipu 
lated  his  hands  up  and  down  Broderick  's  person,  as 
if  he  might  discover  a  coat  of  mail.  Broderick  said 
to  a  friend  near  by  that  Benham  had  treated  him 
"as  an  officer  with  a  search  warrant  would  search 
a  thief  for  stolen  property."  Six  years  before, 
in  his  duel  with  Smith,  a  bullet  from  Smith's  pistol 
had  shattered  a  watch  in  Broderick 's  fob  pocket. 
After  his  death  this  broken  jewel  was  found  in  his 
safe.  Perhaps  the  memory  of  this  episode  caused 
Benham 's  rigourousness ;  but  it  was  an  ominous 
reminiscence  for  Broderick.  Long  after  Benham 
acknowledged  that  he  was  not  courteous,  but  said 
his  principal's  life  being  in  danger,  he  was  bound 
to  do  whatever  was  possible  to  protect  him. 

But  why  did  Broderick 's  seconds  permit  this 
unusual  and  irritating  personal  examination?  It 
angered  and  annoyed  their  principal,  when,  if  ever, 
his  calmness  should  not  be  disturbed.  For  many 
persons  the  indignity  would  have  sufficed  to  ad 
journ  the  combat.  Men's  lives  are  lost  by  actions 
much  less  trivial. 

The  loaded  pistols  were  handed  to  the  duellists 
and  they  faced  each  other,  Terry,  straight  backed, 
wan  and  attenuated.  Broderick,  equally  tall,  but 
broader  and  heavier.  The  latter,  on  receiving  his 
weapon,  anxiously  examined  and  turned  it  about, 
220 


THE  DUEL 

scrutinizing  and  measuring  its  stock  with  his  own 
hand.  He  seemed  uneasy,  adjusting  his  hand  to 
the  conformation  of  the  breech  and  presenting  an 
unsatisfied  appearance.  These  efforts  caused  him 
to  swerve  from  the  line,  and  in  response  to  Ben- 
ham's  suggestion,  one  of  his  perennially  gentle 
manly  seconds  spoke  to  him.  He  changed  his 
attitude,  but  his  body  slightly  projected  and  of 
fered  a  fairer  mark.  Duellists  stand  with  their 
sides  facing  one  another,  head  and  feet  in  ver 
tical  plane,  so  that  no  part  of  the  body  shall 
be  unduly  exposed.  He  stood  with  his  back  to  the 
rising  sun,  driving  over  the  distant  sea  the  dark 
and  dismal  fogs  slowly  emerging  from  the  bleak, 
somber  slopes  and  canons,  where  they  had  wandered 
to  and  fro  in  the  restless  night.  The  white  surf 
of  the  broad  Pacific  rose  in  vapory  laced  veils,  en 
veloping  the  fleeing  fog  in  its  snowy  embrace,  and 
leaping  as  if  with  ardent  steps  to  greet  the  com 
ing  orb. 

Fronting  the  ocean  like  himself  was  California, 
that  California  on  which  he  stood  and  to  whose 
fame  and  future  he  had  consecrated  his  hopes,  all 
his  energy  and  devotion — California  with  her 
mountains  and  valleys,  her  glens,  where  the  gold 
grew,  and  her  hills  crested  with  gigantic  trees 
towering  to  the  stars  and  coeval  with  recorded  life. 
With  troubled  mien  he  turned  to  the  pistol,  which 
was  of  a  type  he  had  never  used  and  had  hardly 
221 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

ever  seen.  He  was  too  discerning  not  to  instantly 
realize  his  disadvantage,  and  with  nervous  motions 
continued  to  adjust  the  stock  which  did  not  seem  to 
fit  his  hand.  Even  after  the  words  had  been 
11  exemplified"  by  Colton  and  repeated  by  Benham 
he  did  not  cease  to  labor  at  the  weapon. 

Presently  Colton  said,  "  Gentlemen,  are  you 
ready?"  Terry,  who  had  stood  immovable  and 
imperturbable  since  the  whispering,  directly  re 
plied,  "Ready."  Broderick,  who  wore  a  soft 
black  hat,  pulled  down  low  over  his  forehead,  still 
fingered  the  intractable  arm,  and  it  was  four  or 
five  seconds  after  Terry's  response  that,  with  a 
nod  to  Colton,  he  also  answered  ' '  Ready. ' ' 

The  duellists  held  their  pistols  vertically  to  the 
side,  with  the  muzzles  pointing  downward.  Colton 
said,  after  a  moment's  interval,  "Fire — one — 
two — "like  the  measured  strokes  of  a  cathedral 
clock.  Broderick  fired  as '  *  one ' '  was  pronounced,  and 
Terry  at  "two."  Broderick 's  bullet  struck  the 
earth  midway  between  himself  and  his  adversary. 
Terry's  shot  entered  Broderick 's  body  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  above  the  right  breast,  penetrating 
the  lung.  Broderick  swerved,  staggered  and 
gradually  dropped  on  his  left  side  until  his  left 
shoulder  rested  on  the  sward,  the  useless  pistol 
dropping  from  his  nerveless  grasp.  He  told 
Baker  on  his  death  couch  between  gasps  and  with 
the  blood  gushing  from  his  breast,  "Baker,  when  I 
222 


THE  DUEL 

was  struck  I  tried  to  stand  firm,  but  the  blow 
blinded  me  and  I  could  not." 

After  Broderick's  fall,  Benham  walked  to  Terry, 
who  instantly  said,  "The  wound  is  not  mortal.  I 
have  hit  two  inches  too  far  out."  From  a  man 
who  was  presumed  'not  to  know  how  to  shoot,  this 
revelation  of  expert  knowledge  and  confidence  is 
marvelous.  The  physician  who  accompanied  Brod 
erick's  party,  carried  a  small  bag  of  surgical  in 
struments,  from  which  a  saw  protruded,  as  if  he 
were  going  to  hospital  after  a  battle.  He  lost  his 
head,  became  confused,  and  not  until  the  other 
doctor  came  forward  was  anything  done  to  relieve 
the  stricken  man's  anguish. 

A  carriage  and  mattress  were  brought  and  Brod- 
erick  was  conveyed  ten  miles  to  Black  Point  and 
placed  in  the  mansion  of  Leonidas  Haskell.  The 
same  residence  in  which  he  had  been  aroused  at 
midnight  three  days  before  to  receive  the  challenge. 
Chloroform  was  administered  which,  by  affecting 
his  nervous  system,  strung  to  the  utmost  tension  in 
the  three  days'  harassing  anxiety  preceding  the 
combat,  deadened  the  excruciating  agony.  Be 
fore  the  contest  he  expressed  the  resolve  not  to 
shoot  Terry  above  the  hips,  as  he  considered  that 
he  had  no  quarrel  with  him.  That  is  thought  to  be 
the  reason  why  he  pulled  the  black  sombrero  so  low 
over  his  brow. 

In  delirium  he  recalled  this  determination  and 
223 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

the  conviction  that  he  was  to  be  hunted  until 
killed.  He  talked  ramblingly  of  the  election  de 
feat;  of  those  great  principles  for  which  he  had 
striven;  of  the  fact  that  he  had  been  deserted 
by  the  people,  and  that  he  was  to  be  silenced. 
"They  have  killed  me  because  I  was  opposed  to  a 
corrupt  administration  and  the  extension  of 
slavery. ' ' 

The  sentiment  of  the  startled  and  horrified  com 
munity  is  perhaps  shown  in  an  editorial  in  one  of 
the  city  papers  the  day  after  the  duel  and  while 
Life  and  Death  grappled  over  his  prostrate  form. 
It  said:  "What  has  this  man  done  that  he  should 
be  hunted  and  abused?  Wherein  was  his  great 
offense  against  the  land  or  the  Nation  ?  What  law 
of  morality  or  religion  did  he  violate  ?  What  trea 
son  did  he  commit  against  his  country?  What 
widow  did  he  wrong — what  orphan  did  he  de 
fraud?  What  act  of  his  in  an  official  capacity 
ever  stained  his  hand?  What  was  his  crime?" 
Broderick's  final  expression,  as  he  lapsed  into 
death 's  lethargy,  was :  "I  die ;  protect  my  honor. ' ' 

He  was  shot  Tuesday  morning  and  died  Friday 
morning,  September  16,  1859.  The  intelligence, 
like  all  doleful  tidings,  spread  like  a  pestilence. 
People  refused  to  credit  that  which  their  hearts 
dreaded — that  he  had  been  thus  slain  in  the  very 
morning  of  his  career ;  that  his  sun  had  set  while  it 
was  yet  day.  But  the  conviction,  the  sad  con- 
224 


THE  DUEL 

viction,  was  verity.  Men's  hearts  sank;  eyes  were 
moistened  by  tears  which  the  sternest  pride  of  man 
hood  could  not  repress,  and  voices  were  hushed  to 
earnest  whisperings.  They  left  their  daily  voca 
tions  and  gathered  in  groups  discussing  the  one 
topic,  some  offering  consolation,  other  generous  trib 
ute  to  the  untimely  dead.  There  was  no  concerted 
signal  of  woe,  no  set  form  or  phase  of  sorrow; 
but  gloom  like  a  black  mist  crested  the  town  and 
its  expression  was  silence.  There  was  no  parade  of 
mourning,  no  ostentatious  grief.  Men  asked  not 
what  others  did,  nor  did  they  care.  Moved  by  the 
fullness  of  their  individual  sorrow,  they  suspended 
business,  draped  doors,  and  repaired  slowly  to  their 
homes. 

San  Francisco  had  never  such  a  day  in  its  stormy 
existence.  There  are  those  living  who  yet  recall 
the  universal  gloom.  Meanwhile  the  dead  senator 
was  conveyed  to  the  city  and  placed  in  a  chamber 
of  the  Union  Hotel,  on  the  corner  of  Merchant  and 
Kearny  streets,  to  be  viewed  by  all  those  who 
venerated  martyrs. 

On  Sunday  afternoon  the  body  was  removed 
opposite,  to  the  Plaza,  deposited  on  a  catafalque, 
and  without  music,  banners,  religion,  organizations 
or  chairman,  but  in  the  presence  of  the  dead  and 
of  thirty  thousand  silent,  living  men,  Colonel  Baker 
pronounced  a  discourse  almost  unrivalled  in  Eng 
lish  literature. 

225 


A  SENATOR  OF  THE  FIFTIES 

The  Monte  Diablo  range  to  the  east,  recalling  the 
Alban  Hills;  the  sparkling  September  sun,  scarce 
equalled  by  Italia 's  brilliant  sunshine;  the  seven 
hills  of  San  Francisco,  like  the  seven  hills  of  Rome 
— the  first  towering  o'er  the  plaza  where  lay  the 
stricken  senator,  while  the  others,  looking  over  the 
forum,  on  the  mangled  body  of  the  first  of  the 
Caesars — surely,  to  the  modern  Antony,  who  lived 
and  died  as  did  his  ancient  prototype,  the  parallel 
must  have  occurred  when  he  exclaims: 

* '  What  hopes  are  buried  with  him  in  the  grave. ' ' 

He  sleeps  at  the  base  of  Lone  Mountain,  itself 

as  lonely  as  he,  where,  facing  the  lordly  Pacific, 

he  lies,  a  pathetic  and  memorable  sacrifice  to  the 

minotaur  of  human  slavery. 


226 


APPENDIX 

David  S.  Terry  was  indicted  for  his  duel  with  Broderick, 
as  it  contravened  the  State  laws.  The  case  was  transferred 
to  another  county  and  there  dismissed.  During  the  Civil 
War  he  joined  the  Confederate  forces,  was  wounded  at 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  and  attained  the  rank  of  Briga 
dier  General. 

At  the  close  of  the  conflict  he  repaired  to  Mexico,  but 
returned  to  California  in  1869,  and,  locating  again  at  Stock 
ton,  resumed  the  practice  of  the  legal  profession. 

Some  years  later  he  became  advocate  for  a  lady  who  was 
one  of  the  principals  in  a  noted  divorce  suit.  Subsequently 
they  were  espoused.  Legal  contentions  arising  from  the 
first  marriage  caused  her  to  appear  before  the  Circuit 
Court  held  in  Oakland,  over  which  Stephen  J.  Field,  Asso 
ciate  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  presided. 

In  open  court  the  Justice  proceeded  to  read  the  decision. 
As  he  continued,  the  tenor  was  manifestly  unfavorable  to 
Mrs.  Terry's  claims.  She  suddenly  arose  and  interrupted 
the  reading  by  violently  upbraiding  and  denouncing  Field. 
He  ordered  her  removal  from  the  judicial  chamber.  She 
resisted,  and  Terry,  coming  to  his  wife's  assistance,  drew 
a  knife  and  assaulted  the  bailiffs.  He  was  disarmed,  both 
parties  secured,  and  the  Court  of  three  judges  sentenced 
Mrs.  Terry  to  one  month  and  her  husband  to  six  months' 
imprisonment,  which  they  served  in  full. 

Justice  Field  returned  to  Washington,  and  the  next  year, 
in  fulfillment  of  his  official  requirements,  came  again  to 
California.  He  had  been  informed  that  Terry  uttered 
threats  of  violence  against  his  person,  and  therefore  he 

227 


APPENDIX 

was  accompanied  by  a  man  employed  by  the  Government 
to  act  in  the  capacity  of  guard. 

On  their  journey  from  Los  Angeles  to  San  Francisco, 
Field  and  his  companion,  with  other  passengers,  left  the 
train  to  lunch  at  a  small  hamlet  named  Lathrop.  Terry 
and  his  wife,  who  had  boarded  the  cars  en  route,  also 
descended  and  shortly  afterward  entered  the  same  res 
taurant.  A  few  minutes  later,  Terry  arose  from  his  seat, 
walked  directly  back  of  Field  and  slapped  or  struck  the 
venerable  justice  on  the  face,  while  he  was  yet  seated. 
Neagle,  the  guard  who  attended  Field,  leaped  to  his  feet 
and  shot  Terry  twice,  who  fell  and  died  instantly. 

This  event  occurred  on  the  15th  of  August,  1889,  not 
quite  thirty  years  from  the  day  when  Terry  shot  Broderick. 


228 


ORATION  BY 

COL.  E.  D.  BAKER 

DELIVEEED  OVER  THE  DEAD  BODY  OF  DAVID  C. 

BBODEEICK,    AT    PORTSMOUTH    SQUARE,    SAN 
FRANCISCO,  ON  THE  18th  OF  SEPTEMBER,  1859. 
Citizens  of  California: 

A  Senator  lies  dead  in  our  midst!  He  is  wrapped  in  a 
bloody  shroud,  and  we,  to  whom  his  toils  and  cares  were 
given,  are  about  to  bear  him  to  the  place  appointed  for  all 
the  living.  It  is  not  fit  that  such  a  man  should  pass  to  the 
tomb  unheralded;  it  is  not  fit  that  such  a  life  should  steal 
unnoticed  to  its  close;  it  is  not  fit  that  such  a  death  should 
call  forth  no  rebuke,  or  be  followed  by  no  public  lamenta 
tion.  It  is  this  conviction  which  impels  the  gathering  of  this 
assemblage.  We  are  here  of  every  station  and  pursuit,  of 
every  creed  and  character,  each  in  his  capacity  of  citizen, 
to  swell  the  mournful  tribute  which  the  majesty  of  the 
people  offers  to  the  unreplying  dead.  He  lies  today  sur 
rounded  by  little  of  funeral  pomp.  No  banners  droop  above 
the  bier,  no  melancholy  music  floats  upon  the  reluctant  air. 
The  hopes  of  high-hearted  friends  droop  like  fading  flowers 
upon  his  breast,  and  the  struggling  sigh  compels  the  tear 
in  eyes  that  seldom  weep.  Around  him  are  those  who  have 
known  him  best  and  loved  him  longest;  who  have  shared  the 
triumph,  and  endured  the  defeat.  Near  him  are  the  gravest 
and  noblest  of  the  State,  possessed  by  a  grief  at  once  earnest 
and  sincere;  while  beyond,  the  masses  of  the  people  whom 
he  loved,  and  for  whom  his  life  was  given,  gather  like  a 
thunder-cloud  of  swelling  and  indignant  grief. 

In   such  a  presence,   fellow-citizens,   let   us  linger   for  a 

229 


APPENDIX 

moment  at  the  portals  of  the  tomb,  whose  shadowy  arches 
vibrate  to  the  public  heart,  to  speak  a  few  brief  words  of 
the  man,  of  ,his  life,  and  of  his  death. 

Mr.  Broderick  was  born  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in 
1819.  He  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  of  obscure  and  re 
spectable  parentage;  he  had  little  of  early  advantages,  and 
never  summoned  to  his  aid  a  complete  and  finished  education. 
His  boyhood  and  his  early  manhood  were  passed  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  and  the  loss  of  his  father  early  stimulated  him 
to  the  efforts  which  maintained  his  surviving  mother  and 
brother,  and  served  also  to  fix  and  form  his  character  even 
in  his  boyhood.  His  love  for  his  mother  was  his  first  and 
most  distinctive  trait  of  character,  and  when  his  brother 
died — an  early  and  sudden  death — the  shock  gave  a  serious 
and  reflective  cast  to  his  habits  and  his  thoughts,  which 
marked  them  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life. 

He  was  always  filled  with  pride,  and  energy,  and  ambi 
tion — his  pride  was  in  the  manliness  and  force  of  his  char 
acter,  and  no  man  had  more  reason  than  he  for  such  pride. 
His  energy  was  manifest  in  the  most  resolute  struggles  with 
poverty  and  obscurity,  and  his  ambition  impelled  him  to 
seek  a  foremost  place  in  the  great  race  for  honorable  power. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  California,  his  life  had 
been  passed  amid  events  .incident  to  such  a  character.  Fear 
less,  self-reliant,  open  in  his  enmities,  warm  in  his  friend 
ships,  wedded  to  his  opinions,  and  marching  directly  to  his 
purpose  through  and  over  all  opposition,  his  career  was 
checkered  with  success  and  defeat:  but  even  in  defeat  his 
energies  were  strengthened  and  his  character  developed. 
When  he  reached  these  shores,  his  keen  observation  taught 
him  at  once  that  he  trod  a  broad  field,  and  that  a  higher 
career  was  before  him.  He  had  no  false  pride :  sprung  from 
a  people  and  of  a  race  whose  vocation  was  labor,  he  toiled 
with  his  own  hands,  and  sprang  at  a  bound  from  the  work 
shop  to  the  legislative  hall.  From  that  time  there  congre- 

230 


APPENDIX 

gated  around  him  and  against  him  the  elements  of  success 
and  defeat — strong  friendships,  bitter  enmities,  high  praise, 
malignant  calumnies — but  he  trod  with  a  free  and  a  proud 
step  that  onward  path  which  has  led  him  to  glory  and  the 
grave. 

It  would  be  idle  for  me,  at  this  hour  and  in  this  place,  to 
speak  of  all  that  history  with  unmitigated  praise:  it  will 
be  idle  for  his  enemies  hereafter  to  deny  his  claim  to  noble 
virtues  and  high  purposes.  When,  in  the  Legislature,  he 
boldly  denounced  the  special  legislation  which  is  the  curse  of 
a  new  country,  he  proved  his  courage  and  his  rectitude. 
When  he  opposed  the  various  and  sometimes  successful 
schemes  to  strike  out  the  salutary  provisions  of  the  Con 
stitution  which  guarded  free  labor,  he  was  true  to  all  the 
better  instincts  of  his  life.  When,  prompted  by  ambition 
and  the  admiration  of  his  friends,  he  first  sought  a  seat  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  aimed  by  legitimate 
effort  to  attain  the  highest  of  all  earthly  positions,  and 
failed  with  honor. 

It  is  my  duty  to  say  that,  in  my  judgment,  when  at  a 
later  period  he  sought  to  anticipate  the  Senatorial  election, 
he  committed  an  error  which  I  think  he  lived  to  regret.  It 
would  have  been  a  violation  of  the  true  principles  of  repre 
sentative  government,  which  no  reason,  public  or  private, 
could  justify,  and  could  never  have  met  the  permanent  ap 
proval  of  good  and  wise  men.  Yet,  while  I  say  this  over 
his  bier,  let  me  remind  you  of  the  temptation  to  such  an 
error,  of  the  plans  and  reasons  which  prompted  it — of  the 
many  good  purposes  it  was  intended  to  effect.  And  if  am 
bition,  "the  last  infirmity  of  noble  minds,"  led  him  for  a 
moment  from  the  better  path,  let  me  remind  you  how  nobly 
he  regained  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  within  the  limits  of  this  address, 
of  the  events  of  that  session  of  the  Legislature  at  which  he 
was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States;  but  some 

231 


APPENDIX 

things  should  not  be  passed  in  silence  here.  The  contest 
between  him  and  the  present  Senator  had  been  bitter  and 
personal.  He  had  triumphed.  He  had  been  wonderfully 
sustained  by  his  friends,  and  stood  confessedly  "the  first 
in  honor  and  the  first  in  place.'*  He  yielded  to  an  appeal 
made  to  his  magnanimity  by  his  foe.  If  he  judged  unwisely, 
he  has  paid  the  forfeit  well.  Never  in  the  history  of 
political  warfare  has  any  public  man  been  so  pursued; 
never  has  malignity  so  exhausted  itself. 

Fellow-citizens!  the  man  whose  body  lies  before  you  was 
your  Senator.  From  the  moment  of  his  election  his  char 
acter  has  been  maligned,  his  motives  attacked,  his  courage 
impeached,  his  patriotism  assailed.  It  has  been  a  system 
tending  to  one  end:  and  the  end  is  here.  What  was  his 
crime?  Eeview  his  history — consider  his  public  acts — 
weigh  his  private  character — and  before  the  grave  en 
closes  him  forever,  judge  between  him  and  his  enemies! 

As  a  man — to  be  judged  in  his  private  relations — who 
was  his  superior?  It  was  his  boast,  and  amid  the  general 
license  of  a  new  country,  it  was  a  proud  one,  that  his 
most  scrutinizing  enemy  could  fix  no  single  act  of  immor 
ality  upon  him!  Temperate,  decorous,  self -restrained,  he 
had  passed  through  all  the  excitements  of  California,  un 
stained.  No  man  could  charge  him  with  broken  faith  or 
violated  trust;  of  habits  simple  and  inexpensive,  he  had 
no  lust  of  gain.  He  overreached  no  man's  weakness  in  a 
bargain,  and  withheld  from  no  man  his  just  dues.  Never, 
in  the  history  of  the  State,  has  there  been  a  citizen  who  has 
borne  public  relations,  more  stainless  in  all  respects  than 
he. 

But  it  is  not  by  this  standard  he  is  to  be  judged.  He 
was  a  public  man,  and  his  memory  demands  a  public  judg 
ment.  What  was  his  public  crime?  The  answer  is  in  his 
own  words:  "I  die  because  I  was  opposed  to  a  corrupt  ad 
ministration,  and  the  extension  of  slavery.''  Fellow-cit- 

232 


APPENDIX 

izens,  they  are  remarkable  words,  uttered  at  a  very  re 
markable  moment:  they  involve  the  history  of  his  Sena 
torial  career,  and  of  its  sad  and  bloody  termination. 

When  Mr.  Broderick  entered  the  Senate,  he  had  been 
elected  at  the  beginning  of  a  Presidential  term  as  the 
friend  of  the  President  elect,  having  undoubtedly  been  one 
of  his  most  influential  supporters.  There  were  unquestion 
ably  some  things  in  the  exercise  of  the  appointing  power 
which  he  could  have  wished  otherwise;  but  he  had  every 
reason  to  remain  with  the  Administration,  which  could  be 
supposed  to  weigh  with  a  man  in  his  position.  He  had 
heartily  maintained  the  doctrine  of  Popular  Sovereignty, 
as  set  forth  in  the  Cincinnati  Platform,  and  he  never 
wavered  in  his  support  till  the  day  of  his  death.  But 
when  in  his  judgment  the  President  betrayed  his  obliga 
tions  to  his  party  and  country — when,  in  the  whole  series 
of  acts  in  relation  to  Kansas,  he  proved  recreant  to  his 
pledges  and  instructions — when  the  whole  power  of  the 
Administration  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  Government,  in  order  to  force  Slavery  upon 
an  unwilling  people — then,  in  the  high  performance  of  his 
duty  as  a  Senator,  he  rebuked  the  Administration  by  his 
voice  and  his  vote,  and  stood  by  his  principles.  It  is  true, 
he  adopted  no  half-way  measures.  He  threw  the  whole 
weight  of  his  character  into  the  ranks  of  the  Opposition. 
He  endeavored  to  arouse  the  people  to  an  indignant  sense 
of  the  iniquitous  tyranny  of  federal  power,  and,  kindling 
with  the  contest,  became  its  fiercest  and  firmest  opponent. 
Fellow-citizens,  whatever  may  have  been  your  political  pre 
dilections,  it  is  impossible  to  repress  your  admiration,  as 
you  review  the  conduct  of  the  man  who  lies  hushed  in 
death  before  you.  You  read  in  his  history  a  glorious 
imitation  of  the  great  popular  leaders  who  have  opposed 
the  despotic  influences  of  power  in  other  lands,  and  in 
our  own.  When  John  Hampden  died  on  Chalgrove  field, 

233 


APPENDIX 

he  sealed  his  devotion  to  popular  liberty  with  his  blood. 
The  eloquence  of  Fox  found  the  sources  of  its  inspiration 
in  his  love  for  the  people.  When  Senators  conspired 
against  Tiberius  Gracchus,  and  the  Tribune  of  the  people 
fell  beneath  their  daggers,  it  was  power  that  prompted  the 
crime  and  demanded  the  sacrifice.  Who  can  doubt,  if  your 
Senator  had  surrendered  his  free  thought,  and  bent  in 
submission  to  the  rule  of  the  Administration — who  can  doubt 
that  instead  of  resting  on  a  bloody  bier,  he  would  have  this 
day  been  reposing  in  the  inglorious  felicitude  of  Presiden 
tial  sunshine? 

Fellow-citizens,  let  no  man  suppose  that  the  death  of  the 
eminent  citizen  of  whom  I  speak  was  caused  by  any  other 
reason  than  that  to  which  his  own  words  assign  it.  It  has 
been  long  foreshadowed — it  was  predicted  by  his  friends — 
it  was  threatened  by  his  enemies:  it  was  the  consequence 
of  intense  political  hatred.  His  death  was  a  political  neces 
sity,  poorly  veiled  beneath  the  guise  of  a  private  quarrel. 
Here,  in  his  own  State,  among  those  who  witnessed  the  late 
canvass,  who  know  the  contending  leaders,  among  those 
who  know  the  antagonists  on  the  bloody  ground — here,  the 
public  conviction  is  so  thoroughly  settled,  that  nothing 
need  be  said.  Tested  by  the  correspondence  itself,  there 
was  no  cause,  in  morals,  in  honor,  in  taste,  by  any  code,  by 
the  custom  of  any  civilized  land,  there  was  no  cause  for 
blood.  Let  me  repeat  the  story — it  is  as  brief  as  it  is  fatal : 
A  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  descends  into  a  political 
convention — it  is  just,  however,  to  say  that  the  occasion 
was  to  return  thanks  to  his  friends  for  an  unsuccessful  sup 
port.  In  a  speech  bitter  and  personal  he  stigmatized 
Senator  Broderick  and  all  his  friends  in  words  of  con 
temptuous  insult.  When  Mr.  Broderick  saw  that  speech, 
he  retorted,  saying  in  substance,  that  he  had  heretofore 
spoken  of  Judge  Terry  as  an  honest  man,  but  that  he  now 
took  it  back.  When  inquired  of,  he  admitted  that  he  had 

234 


APPENDIX 

so  said,  and  connected  his  words  with  Judge  Terry 's  speech 
as  prompting  them.  So  far  as  Judge  Terry  personally  was 
concerned,  this  was  the  cause  of  mortal  combat;  there  was 
no  other. 

In  the  contest  which  has  just  terminated  in  the  State, 
Mr.  Broderick  had  taken  a  leading  part;  he  had  been 
engaged  in  controversies  very  personal  in  their  nature, 
because  the  subjects  of  public  discussion  had  involved  the 
character  and  conduct  of  many  public  and  distinguished 
men.  But  Judge  Terry  was  not  one  of  these.  He  was 
no  contestant;  his  conduct  was  not  in  issue;  he  had  been 
mentioned  but  once  incidentally — in  reply  to  his  own  at 
tack — and,  except  as  it  might  be  found  in  his  peculiar 
traits  or  peculiar  fitness,  there  was  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  could  seek  any  man's  blood.  When  William  of 
Nassau,  the  deliverer  of  Holland,  died  in  the  presence  of 
his  wife  and  children,  the  hand  that  struck  the  blow  was 
not  nerved  by  private  vengeance.  When  the  fourth  Henry 
passed  unharmed  amid  the  dangers  of  the  field  of  Ivry,  to 
perish  in  the  streets  of  his  capital  by  the  hand  of  a  fanatic, 
he  did  not  seek  to  avenge  a  private  grief.  An  exaggerated 
sense  of  personal  honor — a  weak  mind  with  choleric  pas 
sions,  intense  sectional  prejudice  united  with  great  con 
fidence  in  the  use  of  arms — these  sometimes  serve  to 
stimulate  the  instruments  which  accomplish  the  deepest 
and  deadliest  purpose. 

Fellow-citizens!  One  year  ago  today  I  performed  a  duty, 
such  as  I  perform  today,  over  the  remains  of  Senator 
Ferguson,  who  died  as  Broderick  died,  tangled  in  the 
meshes  of  the  code  of  honor.  Today  there  is  another  and 
more  eminent  sacrifice.  Today  I  renew  my  protest;  today 
I  utter  yours.  The  code  of  honor  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare; 
it  palters  with  the  hope  of  a  true  courage  and  binds  it 
at  the  feet  of  crafty  and  cruel  skill.  It  surrounds  its  vic 
tim  with  the  pomp  and  grace  of  the  procession,  but  leaves 

235 


APPENDIX 

him  bleeding  on  the  altar.  It  substitutes  cold  and  deliberate 
preparation  for  courageous  and  manly  impulse,  and  arms 
the  one  to  disarm  the  other;  it  may  prevent  fraud  be 
tween  practiced  duelists  who  should  be  forever  without  its 
pale,  but  it  makes  the  mere  " trick  of  the  weapon"  superior 
to  the  noblest  cause  and  the  truest  courage.  Its  pretence 
of  equality  is  a  lie — it  is  equal  in  all  the  form,  it  is  unjust 
in  all  the  substance — the  habitude  of  arms,  the  early  train 
ing,  the  frontier  life,  the  border  war,  the  sectional  custom, 
the  life  of  leisure,  all  these  are  advantages  which  no 
negotiation  can  neutralize,  and  which  no  courage  can  over 
come. 

But,  fellow-citizens,  the  protest  is  not  only  spoken,  in 
your  words  and  in  mine — it  is  written  in  indelible  charac 
ters;  it  is  written  in  the  blood  of  Gilbert,  in  the  blood  of 
Ferguson,  in  the  blood  of  Broderick;  and  the  inscription 
will  not  altogether  fade. 

With  the  administration  of  the  code  in  this  particular 
case,  I  am  not  here  to  deal.  Amid  passionate  grief,  let  us 
strive  to  be  just.  I  give  no  currency  to  rumors  of  which 
personally  I  know  nothing;  there  are  other  tribunals  to 
which  they  may  well  be  referred,  and  this  is  not  one  of 
them.  But  I  am  here  to  say,  that  whatever  in  the  code 
of  honor  or  out  of  it  demands  or  allows  a  deadly  com 
bat  where  there  is  not  in  all  things  entire  and  certain 
equality,  is  a  prostitution  of  the  name,  is  an  evasion  of 
the  substance,  and  is  a  shield,  emblazoned  with  the  name 
of  Chivalry,  to  cover  the  malignity  of  murder. 

And  now,  as  the  shadows  turn  towards  the  East,  and 
we  prepare  to  bear  these  poor  remains  to  their  silent  rest 
ing-place,  let  us  not  seek  to  repress  the  generous  pride 
which  prompts  a  recital  of  noble  deeds  and  manly  virtues. 
He  rose  unaided  and  alone;  he  began  his  career  without 
family  or  fortune,  in  the  face  of  difficulties;  he  inherited 
poverty  and  obscurity:  he  died  a  Senator  in  Congress,  hav- 

236 


APPENDIX 

ing  written  his  name  in  the  history  of  the  great  struggle 
for  the  rights  of  the  people  against  the  despotism  of 
organization  and  the  corruption  of  power.  He  leaves  in 
the  hearts  of  his  friends  the  tenderest  and  the  proudest 
recollections.  He  was  honest,  faithful,  earnest,  sincere, 
generous  and  brave;  he  felt  in  all  the  great  crises  of  his 
life  that  he  was  a  leader  in  the  ranks,  that  it  was  his  high 
duty  to  uphold  the  interests  of  the  masses;  that  he  could 
not  falter.  When  he  returned  from  that  fatal  field,  while 
the  dark  wing  of  the  Archangel  of  Death  was  casting  its 
shadows  upon  his  brow,  his  greatest  anxiety  was  as  to  the 
performance  of  his  duty.  He  felt  that  all  his  strength  and 
all  his  life  belonged  to  the  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted 
them.  "  Baker, "  said  he — and  to  me  they  were  his  last 
words — "Baker,  when  I  was  struck  I  tried  to  stand  firm, 
but  the  blow  blinded  me,  and  I  could  not."  I  trust  it  is 
no  shame  to  my  manhood  that  tears  blinded  me  as  he  said 
it.  Of  his  last  hour  I  have  no  heart  to  speak.  He  was 
the  last  of  his  race;  there  was  no  kindred  hand  to  smooth 
his  couch  or  wipe  the  death  damp  from  his  brow;  but 
around  that  dying  bed  strong  men,  the  friends  of  early 
manhood,  the  devoted  adherents  of  later  life,  bowed  in 
irrepressible  grief,  "and  lifted  up  their  voices  and  wept." 
But,  fellow-citizens,  the  voice  of  lamentation  is  not  ut 
tered  by  private  friendship  alone — the  blow  that  struck 
his  manly  breast  has  touched  the  heart  of  a  people,  and 
as  the  sad  tidings  spread,  a  general  gloom  prevails.  Who 
now  shall  speak  for  California? — who  be  the  interpreter  of 
the  wants  of  the  Pacific  coast!  Who  can  appeal  to  the 
communities  of  the  Atlantic  who  love  free  labor?  Who 
can  speak  for  masses  of  men  with  a  passionate  love  for  the 
classes  from  whence  he  sprung?  Who  can  defy  the  bland 
ishments  of  power,  the  insolence  of  office,  the  corruption 
of  administrations?  What  hopes  are  buried  with  him  in 
the  grave! 

237 


APPENDIX 

"Ah!   who  that  gallant  spirit  shall  resume, 
Leap  from  Eurotas'  bank,  and  call  us  from  the  tomb?" 
But  the  last  word  must  be  spoken,  and  the  imperious 
mandate  of  Death  must  be  fulfilled.     Thus,  O  brave  heart! 
we  bear  thee  to  thy  rest.     Thus,  surrounded  by  tens  of 
thousands,  we  leave  thee  to  the  equal  grave.     As  in  life, 
no  other  voice  among  us  so  rung  its  trumpet  blast  upon 
the  ear  of  freemen,  so  in  death  its  echoes  will  reverberate 
amid  our  mountains  and  valleys,  until  truth  and  valor  cease 
to  appeal  to  the  human  heart. 
Good  friend!    true  hero!    hail  and  farewell. 


238 


PERSONS  WHO  HAVE  FURNISHED 
WRITTEN  STATEMENTS 

GENERAL  HARRY  WORTHINGTON 

ISAAC  E.  HITT 

GENERAL  DANIEL  E.  SICKLES 

GENERAL  P.  C.  BUST 

MRS.  JOHN  A.  LOGAN 

COLONEL  W.  B.  SHAW 

GEORGE  H.  ROGERS 

GEORGE  T.  KNOX 

CHAS.  W.  KENDALL 

JOHN  H.  WISE 

JOHN  DAGGETT 


239 


PARTIAL  LIST  OF  OTHER 
AUTHORITIES 

Men  and  Memories  San  Francisco  in  the  Spring  of   'SO 

BARRY  AND  PATTEN 

Memoirs  of  Wm.  M.  Gwin 

Memoirs  of  Stephen  J.  Field 

Hittell's  History  of  California 

Bancroft's  History  of  the  Pacific  Coast 

The  Terry-Broderick  Duel,  JOHN  CURREY 

^Representative  Men  of  the  Pacific — SHUCK 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS,  1860 

GEORGE  WILKES,  1859 
New  York  Ab.  Papers,  1844  to  1849 

Alta  California,  1851  to  1859 
Mountains    and    Molehills,    MARRYATT 

Harper  Brothers,  New  York,  1855 

Three   Years  in  California,  COLTON,  New  York,  1850 

Annals  of  San  Francisco,  1854 

Life  of  Junipero  Serra 
Trial  of  D.  S.  Terry  by  Committee  of  Vigilance 

San  Francisco,  1856 
History  of  Vigilance  Committee 

San  Francisco,  1857 
Narrative  of  Edward  McGowan 

San  Francisco,  1857 
Early  Days  and  Men  in  California,  SWASEY 

Broderick  and  Gwin,  O'MEARA 
Every  Paper  Published  in  San  Francisco  During  the  Week 

of  the  Duel  and  Death 
A  Complete  Transcript  of  Broderick's,  SENATORIAL  EECORD 


240 


INDEX 

ASHE,  E.  P.,  his  evidence  in  the  Terry  trial 135-136 

BAKER,  E.  D.,  defends  Cora,  1856 108-109 

BALLOT  Box  FRAUDS 138 

BENHAM,  CALHOUN,  mention  of 206,  220 

BIGLER,  Gov.  JOHN,  concedes  patronage  to  Broderick ...     70 

Mention   of    84 

BRODERICK,  DAVID  COLBERT,  anecdotes  of 85,  86 

Attitude  of  the  press  on  his  refusal  to  accept  the 

challenge    of    Terry 204 

Attitude    towards    Kansas    and    Slavery    ques 
tions    167 

Challenge    of    Terry 203-204 

Change    in    politics    towards    the    close    of    his 

career 191-193 

Character  of  his  supporters 79 

Chosen  United  States  Senator,  1857 154 

Contest  for  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  .144-154 

Death  of 224 

Duel  with  J.  Caleb  Smith 54 

Duel  with  David  S.  Terry,  see  Broderick-Terry 
duel. 

Early    history    of 29-36 

Elected  Senator  to  California  Legislature 28,  50 

Encounter  with  Moore 51-52 

Encounter  with  Peyton 85-86 

Entertained  at  Salt  Lake  City 184-185 

Establishes  a  private  mint  in  San  Francisco ....  48-49 

Friendship  for  Stephen  J.  Field 57-58 

Funeral  ceremonies   225-226 

241 


INDEX 

BRODERICK,  DAVID  COLBERT  (continued)  Pages 

In  Washington  158-162,  166-181 

Influence   with  the  Democratic   party 71-75 

Leaves  Washington 192 

Makes    a   canvass   of   California 194-195 

Mysteriously  assaulted  in  New  York 192 

Personal   bravery    83 

Personal  description 39,  67-69 

Platform   as   Senator 191-192 

Relations  with  William  M.  Gwin 87-88,  196-198 

Eelations  with  George  Wilkes 142-143 

Eemoved      from     the     Committee     on     Public 

Lands   185-187 

Eeplies  to  Terry's  letter  of  September  8,  1859. . .  206 

Secures  settlement  of  Fremont's  claims 180 

Simplicity  of  his  tastes  and  habits. 164-165 

Speech    on    slavery 171-176 

Speeches  written  by  George  Wilkes  denied. .  .177-178 
Supports  Terry  during  the  trial  of  the  latter  by 

the   Vigilance   Committee 141 

Voyage  of,  to  California 36-38 

BRODERICK-TERRY  duel 213-224 

Articles  of  engagement 209-210 

Description  of  weapons  used  in 213-215 

Immediate  origin  of 202-203 

Scene  on  the  field  of 216-223 

BROOKS,   SAMUEL  H.,  present   at   the  Broderick-Terry 

duel    219 

BULLETIN,  see  Evening  Bulletin. 

BUCARELI,  Viceroy,  sends  vessel  to  California 9 

CALIFORNIA,  admitted  to  the  Union 28 

Constitution   of   1849 26-27 

Constitutional   delegation    27 

Early    history   of !'4 

Early  lynch  law  in 22-23 

242 


INDEX 

CALIFORNIA  (continued)  Pages 

Election   of   1853 72 

Indians    10 

Immigration    23-26 

Latin  population  of 21-22 

Life  in  1849.     Society,  manners  and  customs .  . .  44-48 

Missions     12-13 

Progress  of,  described 61-66 

Senatorial   vote,    1857 151 

State  Democratic  Convention  of  1854,  remarkable 

proceedings    of    81-84 

CASEY,   JAMES   P.,   assassinates   James   King   of   Wil 
liam    112-116 

COLEMAN,  WILLIAM   T.,  mention   of 120 

COLTON,   DAVID,   mention    of 211 

CORA,  CHARLES,   assassinates  Bichardson 108 

CORRESPONDENCE      leading      to      the      Broderick-Terry 

duel    205-209 

CRIME  in  California,  see  Punishment. 

CUSTOM  HOUSE  of  San  Francisco 91 

DAGGETT,  JOHN,  statement  of 214-215 

DONNER    party    17 

DOUGLAS,  STEPHEN  M 168-169 

DRAKE,  SIR  FRANCIS,  mention  of 3 

EARLY  party  politics  in  California,  see  Party  Politics. 
EASTERN    opinions    regarding    crime    in    California    in 

1856    110-111 

ELECTION  of  1856 144 

EVENING    Bulletin    of    San    Francisco    established    by 

James  King  of  William 113 

Statement  in,  regarding  James  P.  Casey 114 

FERGUSON,    W.    I.,    fatal    duel    with    Geo.    Pen    John 
ston    183-184 

Friendly   relations  with  Broderick 182-184 

243 


INDEX 


FIELD,   STEPHEN  J.,  becomes  Justice  of  the   Supreme 

Court   of  California,   1858 163 

His    encounter   with    B.    F.    Moore    averted    by 

Broderick     56-59 

FREMONT,  JOHN  C.,  military  journey  from  Monterey  to 

Los  Angeles    15-16 

United  States  Senator,  1849 27 

GAMBLING   in   California 104-106 

GOLD  discovered  in  California 17-20 

GREWELL,  JACOB,  Senator   from  Santa  Clara,  defeats 

Broderick 's  political  plans 75-78 

GWIN,  WILLIAM  M.,  arrival  in  California 89 

Duel  with     J.  W.  McCorkle 91-92 

Famous  letter  to  Broderick 156-157,  184-185,  196 

Member    of    the    Constitutional   Convention   in 

1849     90 

Personal  appearance  and  history 89-90 

Political  antagonist  of  Broderick 87-88,  195-196 

HASKELL,  LEONIDAS,  friend  in  whose  house  Broderick  Js 

death   occurred    223 

HERALD,  see  San  Francisco  Herald. 

HOPKINS,  S.  A.,  stabbed  by  David  S.  Terry 131-132 

INDIANS,  see  California. 

KING  of  William,  JAMES,  death  of 121 

Personal   history   of 112-113 

LATHAM,  MILTON  S.,  mention  of 95 

"LAW  AND  ORDER"  Party 131,  137-138 

MCCORKLE,  J.  W.,  duel  with  William  M.  Gwin 91-92 

McDouGALL,  JOHN,  chairman  of  State  Democratic  Con 
vention  of   1854 82 

Favorable  to  the  Vigilance  Committee  of  1851.100-101 
McGowAN,  EDWARD,    evades    the    Vigilance    Commit 
tee     130-131 

Mention   of    82 

244 


INDEX 

Pages 

McKiBBEN,  J.  C.,  mention  of 209 

MOORE,  B.  F.,  antagonistic  to  Broderick 51 

Attitude  towards  Field 57-59 

MOORE,  ELLIOTT,  J.,  mention  of 219 

PARTY  politics  in  California 92-95 

PERLEY,  D.  W.,  mention  of 202-203 

PEYTON,   BALIE,   encounter  with   Broderick 85-86 

PORTOLA,    GASPAR    DE 6 

PUNISHMENT  of  crime  in  California,  statistics  of Ill 

EICHARDSON,  W.  H.,  assassinated  by  Charles  Cora 107 

SAN  FRANCISCO  Custom  House  called  "  Virginia  Poor 

House"     91 

Herald,   Anti-Vigilante    125-126 

Vigilance  Committee,   see   Vigilance   Committee. 

SERRA,  JUNIPERO,  in  California 5-9,  11 

SHERMAN,  WILLIAM  T.,  mention  of 124 

SICKLES,  DANIEL  E.,  recollections  of  Broderick 34 

SMITH,  J.  CALEB,  duel  with  Broderick 54 

Stella,  pioneer  vessel 38 

STEVENSON  's   regiment    17 

SUTTER,  JOHN  A.,  mention  of 43 

SUTTER'S  FORT,  description  of 42-43 

TERRY,  DAVID  S.,  attempts  the  murder  of  Hopkins. .  .131-133 

Arrested  by  the  Vigilance  Committee 132-133 

Duel  with  Broderick 213-224 

Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California.  ..95-200 

Letter  to  Broderick,  September  8,  1859 205 

Mention  of 83 

Personal   history   of 199-200 

Eesigns  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  California. .   205 

Speech  before  the  Lecompton  Convention 201 

Statement  to  the  Vigilance  Committee 133-135 

Trial  by  the  Vigilance  Committee,  verdict  and 
judgment  136-137 

245 


INDEX 


TiLroRD,  FRANK,  Broderick 's  chief  political  supporter. .   149 

VIGILANCE  COMMITTEE  of  1851,  actions  of 100-102 

Causes  of  organization  of 96-98 

Declaration    of    99 

Justification   of    106-107 

VIGILANCE  COMMITTEE  of  1856,  actions  of 117-139 

Disbands  139 

Justification  of    126-127 

" VIRGINIA  POOR  HOUSE/'  see  San  Francisco  Custom 
House. 

WALKER,  WILLIAM,  filibuster,  friend  of  Broderick 78 

WELLER,  JOHN  B.,  chosen  to  succeed  Fremont  in  1851 

54,    90-91 

WILKES,  GEORGE,  relations  with  Broderick 141-143 


246 


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